TEHRAN, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani on Tuesday called for international efforts to lift the "inhuman" U.S. sanctions on Iran amid the raging COVID-19 epidemic.
Larijani issued the call in separate letters to the heads of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Asian Parliamentary Assembly, as well as the parliament speakers of the Asian and Islamic countries, the Tehran Times daily reported.
He denounced the U.S. sanctions for hindering Iran's efforts to fight the COVID-19 epidemic, as the country faces severe shortage of medical supplies due to the sanctions.
The U.S. administration led by President Donald Trump unilaterally quitted the international deal on Iranian nuclear program in May, 2018, and has reimposed all sanctions on Iran in an attempt to force the Islamic republic to renegotiate a deal under the U.S. terms.
Larijani urged the international community to adopt a "principled" stance to urge immediate removal of the U.S. sanctions against Iran, especially those on medical supplies.
A total of 291 people have died from the novel coronavirus infection in Iran as of Tuesday, while a total of 8,042 people have been infected since the outbreak on Feb. 19.
