Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a statement that Iran is facing severe problems due to the corona outbreak and thousands of people have been affected while more than one thousand people have been killed by the virus in the country.
“Economic sanctions against Iran are hampering their efforts to fight coronavirus,” he said.
He said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan have contacted on the coronavirus outbreak in Iran and the impact of economic sanctions against the country in the current situation.
“When I spoke to the Iranian Foreign Minister, he also said that sanctions should be lifted from Iran in view of humanitarian crisis,” Qureshi added
He said Iran is in dire need of medicines, ventilators and other medical equipment right now, but economic sanctions are hampering the Iranian efforts to procure them.
“We are very concerned about this situation, if the corona epidemic intensifies in Iran, it can have serious threats for the entire region,” said the minister.
He added that Pakistan has begun its diplomatic efforts to remove sanctions from Iran.
“We have requested the ambassadors of permanent members of the United Nations Security Council P5 to convey this message of Prime Minister Imran Khan to their countries so that sanctions could be lifted from Iran,” he said.
"Iran is our brotherly Islamic country and as our neighbor we are fully aware of their situation, so we stand with Iran in this difficult time."
According to Public Relations office of Iran’s health ministry cases of COVID-19 infection reached 20,610 in Iran with death toll mounted to 1,556.
Pakistan, German FMs discuss Iran sanctions on phone
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a telephonic conversation with his German counterpart that Iran is under a difficult situation due to coronavirus outbreak so it is high time that the sanctions from the country should be lifted.
According to foreign ministry statement Qureshi said that the situation in Iran is extremely worrisome, and the number of deaths caused by the virus is highest in the region.
The German Foreign Minister expressing his views, said: We are concerned about the situation in Iran.
He assured Pakistani FM that he would raise this issue at the upcoming G7 meeting and the European Union Foreign Ministers Conference next week.
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