The Iranian government blames US unilateral sanctions for undermining its ability to deal with the disease. Washington has been using a so-called ‘maximum pressure campaign’ to cripple the Iranian economy after withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called the US restrictions that were imposed amid the pandemic against Iran and other nations “economic and medical terrorism” and “a crime against humanity and the entire global community.”