Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said renewed US sanctions on his country have cost it some $200 billion in less than two years, in a letter to world leaders published on Saturday
TEHRAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th March, 2020) Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said renewed US sanctions on his country have cost it some $200 billion in less than two years, in a letter to world leaders published on Saturday.
The United States reimposed crippling economic sanctions on Iran in mid-2018 that were waived under the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, after accusing it of breaching the historic pact.
"These sanctions have caused about $200 billion direct damages to the Iranian economy in less than two years," Rouhani was cited as saying on his website.
The letter calls on world leaders to show unity in the face of the deadly viral disease, which knows no borders and "chooses its victims without any political, religious, ethnic and racial consideration."
"There is no doubt that in the face of a dangerous global epidemic, Tehran and Qom are not far from Paris, London and New York, and any policy that weakens the economic structure... will have direct effects on the fight against the epidemic in other countries," he warned.
Iran has reported 12,729 cases of infection with the new coronavirus as of Saturday, with 611 deaths and more than 4,300 recoveries. It is the world's worst hit country after China and Italy.
