Pope’s Office Says Has Contacted US on Anti-Iran Sanctions
Last month, senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad in a letter to the head of the Catholic Church had called on him to intervene so that the sanctions are eliminated.
Ayatollah Mohaghegh Damad, who is a senior member of the Academy of Sciences of Iran, in the letter, reminded Pope Francis that while the Iranian people, including children and the elderly, are facing the deadly coronavirus and suffering from the consequences of its outbreak, the US sanctions against the country have increased their suffering and closed doors to solving many problems.
These embargoes have had direct negative effects on the lives of people in Iran and deprived them of their natural rights, the cleric added.
In response to Ayatollah Mohaghegh Damad’s letter, the Vatican’s Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, on behalf of the Pope, expressed sympathy with the Iranian people and all other people in the world facing with the disease.
He wrote that the Pope has also prayed for the quick recovery of those infected with COVID-19 and an end to the deadly disease in the world.
According to Cardinal Parolin, the Pontiff’s office also contacted United States Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft to inform her of the concerns of Iranian officials, urging attention to the matter.
The US sanctions were imposed on Iran in May 2018 after Washington withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. They target much-need humanitarian aid and related finances from reaching the country.
They come despite an International Court of Justice’s ruling banning Washington’s aid-related sanctions in 2018.
Iran’s health ministry announced on Saturday that the number of people infected with the coronavirus across the country rose to 70,029.
The COVID-19 death toll in Iran was 4,357 as of Saturday noon.
