OREANDA-NEWS. US sanctions against Tehran remain the main obstacle to successfully combating the spread of the disease caused by the new coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iran. This opinion was expressed on Friday by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a telephone conversation with his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi.

"Zarif said that US sanctions are the main obstacle for the country to meet its needs for medicines and medical equipment necessary to fight against coronavirus", the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. At the same time, Zarif "pointed to the report of the World Health Organization, which confirmed the high level of the Iranian health system".

According to the press service, "Zarif called on the Japanese government to step up efforts so that the US lifts sanctions against Iran". Motegi said on Tuesday that the Japanese authorities intend to allocate about $ 23.4 million to Iran to fight the new coronavirus through international organizations.

The Iranian Ministry of Health on February 19 reported the country's first cases of infection with a new coronavirus. Infected were detected in the city of Qom. According to the latest official data, the number of cases in the republic is 18 407, at least 1284 deaths have been registered.