‘Medical terrorism’: Zarif blames US sanctions for widening coronavirus outbreak that killed 145 in Iran, including top officials

As authorities struggle to contain the outbreak that infected nearly 6,000 in Iran so far, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has accused US President Donald Trump of deliberately exacerbating the crisis with mounting economic pressure.

At least 145 people have died across Iran as of Saturday, while the number of officially confirmed infections has jumped by over a thousand in just one day to 5,823 people, including several top officials. In yet another high-profile case, Fatemeh Rahbar, a newly-elected member of the Iranian Parliament, died of coronavirus on Friday – just a day after Hossein Sheikholeslam, adviser to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, died.

“[President Donald Trump] is maliciously tightening US’ illegal sanctions with aim of draining Iran’s resources needed in the fight against #COVID19—while our citizens are dying from it,” Zarif tweeted on Saturday.

The world can no longer be silent as US #EconomicTerrorism is supplanted by its #MedicalTerrorism

Iran is among the countries hardest hit by Covid-19 outside of mainland China, where it originated. The country has shuttered all schools and universities until the end of the country’s calendar year on March 20, in an effort to stop the spread of the virus.

As numerous high-level Iranian officials, including 23 lawmakers, have contracted the virus, the head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps fueled speculation and conspiracy theories this week by claiming the US could be the prime culprit behind the Covid-2019 “biological attack.”

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