MOSCOW, April 20. /TASS/: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has condemned the refusal of the US and Western states to lift unilateral sanctions against several states in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Al-Assad made this statement during a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Damascus, quoted by SANA news agency.
"Sadly, the US and several other states are using this epidemic with political aims," al-Assad said. "Even in these strictly humanitarian conditions, they have failed to lift the sanctions." He noted that this approach exposes the amorality of Western ruling circles. "The coronavirus has shown that these governments are acting in the interest of those in power and not in the interest of their own people," the Syrian leader stressed.
SANA informed that al-Assad had expressed his condolences to Iran over the consequences of the coronavirus epidemic in the country. Iran has documented about 83,500 cases of the novel coronavirus, with at least 5,209 deaths.
In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.
On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 2,414,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 165,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 629,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.
