US imposes Iran-related sanctions amid Iran’s suffering from coronavirus

WASHINGTON The United States on Thursday imposed fresh Iranrelated sanctions to further pressure Tehran while the country is suffering from the COVID19 outbreak.

The US Department of Treasury designated five United Arab Emirates (UAE)based companies that facilitate Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical sales, according to a statement issued by the department. “In 2019, these UAEbased companies collectively purchased hundreds of thousands of metric tons of petroleum products from NIOC for delivery to the UAE,” the statement said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin accused Tehran of using “revenues from petroleum and petrochemical sales to fund its terrorist proxies, like the IRGCQF, instead of the health and wellbeing of the Iranian people.” According to the designation, all property and interests in property of these entities have been blocked, and U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday said that the United States would be responsible for the “destructive ramifications” of its unilateral sanctions against Iran as the country is fighting the COVID19 outbreak. Zarif said that the economic siege imposed by the United States on Iran impedes all the legitimate trade and deprives the

Iranians of their own resources, the ones necessary to address the needs of Iranians, including their health and livelihoods.

Zarif said the U.S. “illegal, inhuman and unilateral sanctions against Iran” should be removed as the country is struggling to stem the novel coronavirus. Iran is among the countries that have been severely hit by the outbreak of novel coronavirus. Iran’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education on Thursday announced the death of 1,284 people out of a total of 18,407 coronavirus cases, according to the official IRNA news agency.

(Xinhua)

BRASILIA Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday that June would likely be the most critical month for the coronavirus outbreak in the country, as he criticized state governors for taking extreme measures that were slowing the economy. Brazil’s two biggest cities, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and their surrounding states have moved to slow the outbreak by restricting social gatherings in a push to empty shopping malls, beaches and public transportation. The epidemic represents a serious political risk for the farright populist Bolsonaro, who has taken criticism for his early handling of the outbreak, which he initially labeled a “fantasy.”

Approval of Bolsonaro’s government fell to a record low this week, a poll released by brokerage XP Investimentos showed on Friday. Just 30% of those surveyed rated his administration “good” or “great,” compared to 36% calling it “bad” or “awful.”

Bolsonaro, who was already struggling to resuscitate a weak economy, made clear on Friday he was concerned about the economic impact of the virus, with Brazil’s currency and stock market among the world’s biggest losers over the past two weeks.

(Reuters)