US not to Release Assets to Iran Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

The US State Department shot down reports Trump administration will grant waivers to aid Iran’s coronavirus relief effort.

The US State Department shot down inaccurate reports claiming the Trump administration would soon be granting special sanctions exceptions to give Iran access to cash assets as it struggles to fight the coronavirus, according to Washington Free Beacon.

The United States had agreed to grant sanctions waivers to some countries allowing them to release frozen Iranian assets in order to help Tehran buy medicine and equipment to fight the coronavirus, according to a report late Friday in Middle Eastern Eye that cited sources.

Scores of Iranian assets are currently frozen in many European bank accounts due to the Trump administration’s tough sanctions regime on Iran.

The State Department slapped down these reports as false when asked by the Free Beacon to address the matter.

These reports are inaccurate, a State Department official told the Free Beacon.

Over the past week, the international community has been making calls on the US to lift the illegal sanctions, which have hampered Tehran’s access to lifesaving medical supplies as the country is trying to contain the coronavirus and help treat the patients.

On March 26, the lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin to denounce the administration’s maximum pressure campaign amid the country’s efforts to tackle the covid-19 outbreak along with the rest of the world countries.

The letter was signed amid global calls on Washington to put an end to the illegal sanctions.

According to the latest reports by Iran’s Ministry of Health, the death toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak, officially known as COVID-19, in Iran has risen to 2378 with 32,332 confirmed cases and 11,133 recovered.

About Sheida Bahramirad

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