Iran Press/ America: "It is accurate to say that the US is weaponizing the virus against these countries,” Stone said.
The award-winning filmmaker warned, ‘plagues expose the foundations of injustice’ in our societies,” film director Oliver Stone wrote in an op-ed Saturday exposing the United States government “profound lack of human decency” amid the new coronavirus pandemic.
In the piece published by the New York Daily News, Stone denounces the U.S. government for refusing to remove murderous sanctions on Iran and Venezuela in the context of a global health crisis.
He urged for a “serious moral self-reflection,” and warned that countless lives were at risk unless there is an “immediate change in course.”
“These actions represent the type of international solidarity and show of humanity that the world needs right now,” he said.
“Sadly, the federal government in Washington is demonstrating the very opposite at this time, It is accurate to say that the US is weaponizing the virus against these countries.”
Due to the illegal US sanctions, Iran has been paying a heavy price because of the pandemic. The Islamic Republic is “reportedly the only country in the world that cannot buy medicines needed to fight the pandemic."
According to reports from Iran, one person is dying every 10 minutes, “the US government will bear a great deal of moral and legal responsibility, for it is knowingly contributing to the spread of the pandemic in Iran,” Stone said.
Likewise, the outspoken Hollywood director condemned US President Donald Trump’s decision to maintain, and in some cases, to increase economic pressure on countries like Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua as the virus is straining healthcare systems across the planet.
Head of Public Relations and Information Center of the Ministry of Health Kianoush Jahanpour on Sunday in his daily news conference said that so far, 58,226 people in the country have definitely been infected with the Coronavirus and 3,603 people have died due to the virus.
Worldwide, the total number of infections recorded since the beginning of the outbreak reached nearly 1,275,000 while the global death toll has neared 70,000.
Despite the outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus worldwide and the need to fight it all out, the United States insists on its sanctions within the framework of maximum pressure policy against Iran and repeatedly imposing new sanctions against Tehran.
On Saturday, EU foreign ministers called for the activation of humanitarian exemptions in order to suspend unilateral sanctions against Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba to empower them against the Coronavirus.
As the Coronavirus spreads around the world, EU ministers have backed the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' call for the use of a humanitarian exemption mechanism to deliver medical equipment to sanctioned countries.
205
Read More:
US sanctions against Iranians inhumane: A message to world's religious leaders
Russia urges UN chief to make efforts for lifting sanctions on Iran
US cruel sanctions, obstacle in fight against COVID-19: VP
