Lack of foreign capital compounds Iranians' difficulties amid pandemic
CGTN
How should the international community respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran? Should it support the government's demand for an emergency loan from the IMF and relief from sanctions? If it does, how can it be sure that the funds will be used to fight the virus?
Such questions are important given that Iran has become the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis in the Middle East. Since the first case was reported in mid-February, the country has seen cases rise to 70,000 and more than 4,000 die as a result.
In the past month the Iranian government has applied for a 5-billion-U.S.-dollar emergency loan from the IMF to help finance its response to the coronavirus. This week, however, an American official hinted that it was more than likely that the U.S. would effectively veto that request.
The American response is the latest in a series of actions, which included the imposition of additional sanctions on Iran last month. The sanctions are the latest in the American strategy of "maximum pressure" against Iran's nuclear program and wider regional meddling.
