Syrian President Bashar Assad (right), wears a mask to help protect from the coronavirus, as he speaks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who also wore a mask and gloves, in Damascus, Syria, on April 20, 2020. (AP)
Iran’s foreign minister used a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday to call on the US to lift sanctions imposed on both countries, during his first visit to the war-ravaged country in a year.
Iran has been a close ally of Assad in Syria’s long and bloody nine-year-long civil war, lending his government in Damascus vital military and economic support.
The remarks made by Mohammad Javad Zarif during the meeting with Assad were reported by Syria’s state-run news agency SANA.
For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.
Zarif said America had shown its inhumane face to the world by refusing to lift sanctions during the pandemic.
A photo of the meeting released by SANA showed Assad wearing a face mask while Zarif had also put on a mask and blue gloves.
Iran is facing one the worst outbreaks in the Middle East with 83,500 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and more than 5,200 deaths from the Covid-19 illness it causes. Syria has reported only 39 cases of the virus and two deaths.
Iran began on Monday a gradual easing of its lockdown to stimulate its sanctions-choked economy, gambling that it has brought under control its coronavirus outbreak.
Assad expressed his condolences to Iran over the deaths caused by coronavirus during the meeting on Monday.
The Syrian leader said that the pandemic was being used for “political exploitation" by the US and its allies, according to SANA.
Syria and Iran are both under American sanctions that they both say are affecting their fight against the virus by limiting some humanitarian imports.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that Zarif will discuss with Assad and other Syrian officials bilateral relations and developments in the region.
Read more:
Coronavirus: Trump says he would send ventilators to Iran if Tehran wanted them
Middle East faces a long, ‘ugly’ recession amid coronavirus fallout: Experts
Iran to receive coronavirus aid from World Bank, Islamic Development Bank
Russia, Iran and Turkey, who back rival groups in Syria’s conflict, have been sponsoring talks.
