President Hassan Rouhani: ‘US actions jeopardize world’s fight against COVID-19’

President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani denounced that the irresponsible actions of the US administration jeopardize the fight put up by other nations against COVID-19. In this regard, he urged the US government to lift unilateral coercive measures that prevent nations from giving an immediate response to their people in the face of coronavirus and described sanctions as “anti-humanitarian.” Rouhani stressed that as “all the countries are focused on planning strategies to fight the pandemic,” Washington insists on worsening aggressions. During his speech at the Virtual Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), themed “United against COVID-19,” Rouhani rejected that in the context of this fight against novel coronavirus, war conflicts and terrorism worsen. Likewise, the Iranian president invited the non-aligned nations to consolidate multilateralism and international cooperation to face these threats. The United States is currently the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic with the highest case fatality rate, registering 68,609 deaths and 1,189,024 cases. In the face of this humanitarian crisis, the US government’s actions are not aimed at protecting its people, giving precedence to economic interests over health.