Israel's envoy to the United Nations on Thursday urged Iran to suspend it nuclear program so as to received pandemic-related relief from the West.
With over 2,000 dead from coronavirus and the sixth-highest infection rate in the world, Iran has already asked the UN to ensure that the United States eases the stifling sanctions it has imposed on its regime, but Ambassador Danny Danon asserted that any such relief must demand a pledge by the ayatollahs to put any nuclear activities on hold and cease its sponsoring of global terrorism. terrorist actives
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
"Israel remains in favor of providing humanitarian aid to the Iranian people," Danon told the Jerusalem Post. "But as long as the regime continues its nuclear and terrorist programs, sanctions must remain in place."
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif took to Twitter to accuse the US of practicing "economic terrorism" against during the time of a pandemic.
#Covid19 ravages the world, sparing no nation.
Even the world's largest economy needs others to help it fight the pandemic, yet refuses to halt its #EconomicTerrorism against Iran.
Does the US want a "forever pandemic"?
Moral imperative to stop observing the bully's sanctions. pic.twitter.com/4cp8wBjsKz
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) March 26, 2020
Addressing the leaders of the Group of 20 major economies via video conference on Thursday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that COVID-19 "threatens the whole of humanity. ... We are at war with a virus – and not winning. This war needs a wartime plan to fight it.
"Solidarity is essential among the G20 and with the developing world, including countries in conflict," the UN chief said on Thursday.
The leaders of the G20 pledged to inject over $5 trillion into the global economy to limit job and income losses from the coronavirus and "do whatever it takes to overcome the pandemic."
Guterres further called for a "global ceasefire" so that countries could focus their efforts on halting the spread of the virus.
"I also appeal for the waving of sanctions that can undermine countries' capacity to respond to the pandemic," he said.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet issued a similar call earlier this week, saying, "Human rights reports have repeatedly emphasized the impact of sectoral sanctions on access to essential medicines and medical equipment – including respirators and protective equipment for health-care workers.
"More than 50 Iranian medics have died" and the virus is spreading from Iran to neighboring