US sanctions against Iran are ‘crimes against humanity’: Ex-US Senate candidate

US sanctions against Iran, which have been strongly advocated by Israel, are impeding the Islamic Republic’s efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic, making them “crimes against humanity,” a former US Senate candidate says.

“These are crimes against humanity; these are war crimes that are being committed against the people of Iran for absolutely no good reason and for one compelling reason, and that is the fact that the American government is being run by the Israeli [regime]”, said Mark Dankof, who is also a broadcaster in San Antonio, Texas.

“This is nothing new of course; this is just the latest outlandish example of how the United States is pursuing a criminal policy in the Middle East,” Dankof told Press TV on Monday.

“We have a Zionist occupied government, and the United States government is being led around by the nose by [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu and by the very, very powerful Israel lobby,” he added.

US must life 'immoral' sanctions on Iran as they hamper battle against coronavirus: China

China says the unilateral US sanctions will further hamper Iran

China said Monday the "immoral" sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran must be lifted as soon as possible, because they hamper Tehran’s ability to fight the global coronavirus pandemic, thus damaging ordinary people's lives.

Speaking at a regular press briefing in Beijing, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Geng Shuang, said Washington should lift any sanctions imposed on Iran to ensure that the country receives timely humanitarian aid to help it fight the coronavirus pandemic.

He added that it would be immoral to keep sanctions in force at a time when the fight against the virus in Iran "has entered a crucial stage."

President Donald Trump reinstated US sanctions on Iran in May 2018 after he unilaterally left the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed between Iran and major world powers.

The US claims it does not get in the way of food and medicine exports to Iran, but the Islamic Republic says Washington has been creating problems for a Swiss humanitarian channel that is aimed at enabling the transfer of commodities.

In a letter sent to a number of world leaders on Friday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said unlike many countries infected with coronavirus, the Islamic Republic is faced with serious obstacles and restrictions emanating from two years of extensive and illegal sanctions, a maximum pressure campaign as well as systematic acts of sabotage by the US administration.

It is not possible for any country to handle the dangerous crisis by itself let alone a country that has numerous problems in having access to international financial markets and supplying its required commodities, the Iranian president stated.

In Iran, a total of 14,991 people have so far been infected, 4,996 have recovered, and 853 have lost their lives to the infection.

Several countries have banned mass gatherings such as sports, cultural and religious events to combat the disease that has infected over 169,000 people globally and killed more than 6,500.

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