<![CDATA[Coronavirus: China helps while US sanctions 'terrorise', says Iran's Hong Kong envoy]>
US sanctions are preventing Iran from getting the medical equipment it needs to combat the coronavirus, according to Seyed Reza Hosseini, Tehran's acting consul general in Hong Kong and Macau.
"We are facing unilateral sanctions from the US, so the situation is worse [than in other countries]," he said. "These unilateral sanctions have made it more difficult to feed the economy. We also need to access our resources outside [of Iran] and buy equipment for the doctors."
Hosseini said the international community should condemn the US sanctions. "It's a matter of humanity, specifically in this situation," the diplomat argued, accusing the US of engaging in "economic terrorism".
In an interview with This Week in Asia, Hosseini said China's support had been essential for the country to navigate the epidemic, which he fears may worsen during the ongoing Persian New Year holidays.
Iran is one of the nations hit hardest by the coronavirus, alongside China, Italy and Spain. Its death toll has climbed above 1,800 and more than 23,000 people have been infected. The health ministry said Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, was killing one person every 10 minutes and infecting 50 every hour.
Washington reintroduced sanctions on Iran after US President Donald Trump walked away in 2018 from an international deal over Tehran's nuclear programme. The sanctions have choked off Iran's oil revenues and blocked access to international financial markets.
US President Donald Trump with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Photo: Reuters alt=US President Donald Trump with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Photo: Reuters
Medicine, medical devices, food and other humanitarian supplies are supposed to be exempt from the sanctions. But a Human Rights Watch report said the sanctions were threatening access to medicines and medical equipment.
Earlier this year the group said it continued to document "cases of companies refusing to sell medication to Iran, as well as non-governmental and humanitarian operations facing obstacles in transferring funds related to their work in the country".
A humanitarian trade channel to facilitate payment for exports of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, and medical devices to Iran was officially launched by the US and Switzerland in February. But, in Hosseini's opinion, that was not enough.
The diplomat said Iran could cope with the coronavirus if normal business and trading channels resumed. "If the US wants to help Iranian people, it's better to respect international law and let the business be normal. We can manage it."
Last week the Trump administration moved on with its "maximum pressure" campaign to curb Iran's nuclear and missile activities by imposing new sanctions. Washington blacklisted nine entities for trade in Iran's petrochemicals, including three China-based firms and three in Hong Kong.
"The US will continue to fully enforce our sanctions," said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Trump said on February 29 that Washington could help Iran fight the novel coronavirus if its leaders requested it. But Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Sunday his country would never accept such aid, claiming that Washington was "capable" of wanting to intensify the epidemic in the Islamic republic. He also cited a conspiracy theory blaming the US for the outbreak.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Photo: AP alt=Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Photo: AP
The disease has spread across the 31 provinces of Iran, which has a population of about 81 million.
Tehran's envoy in Hong Kong said the country was facing shortages of masks, sanitisers and medical equipment. "China has been one of the main countries helping Iran, not just the government but the people of China too," Hosseini said.
A donation channel, set up this month on the social media network Weibo by the Iranian Embassy in China, raised about US$567,000 within a day.
In addition to cash, medical items have been donated by Chinese individuals and entities. Liu Zhengchen and his colleagues at the Beijing New Sunshine Charity Foundation have dispatched five shipments of medical supplies to Iran, including testing kits, protective garments and ventilators.
"In our hardest time fighting against Covid-19, Iran donated three million medical masks to us," Liu told state-run CCTV. "Now that our situation is getting better, it's time for us to help them."
Professor Anoush Ehteshami, chair in International Relations and director of the Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the Durham University, said: "China's support has been the difference between sinking and swimming for Iranians. Without Chinese support Iran's medical services would have struggled even more in combating coronavirus."
China-Iran relations have warmed since Trump's unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal.
"Economically, Iran has become increasingly more reliant on trade and investment ties with China," said Ehteshami, who co-authored the book How China's Rise is Changing the Middle East.
"Politically too, Iran relies on China, but China has been careful not to get caught up in the Tehran-Washington rhetoric," the scholar said. On a diplomatic level, he added, Beijing's support to Iran had also been measured because it did not want to damage relations with Saudi Arabia and Israel " two of its key Middle East and North Africa economic partners.
Ehteshami expected Iran's reliance on China would grow.
"Iran's economy is in meltdown so it will become even more dependent on Chinese support; support to fight the virus and support to keep the economy afloat."
The scholar noted that Iran had few allies and that China was on top of the list. "Relations between the two, going forward, will be even closer. Iran's imports will increasingly come from China, and Iran will have little choice but to send its exportable commodities and goods to the Chinese market," Ehteshami said.
A medical team with the Red Cross Society of China arrived in Tehran in late February, days after the country announced its first case.
Meanwhile, other international organisations have also joined efforts to curb the epidemic. Medecins Sans Frontieres is setting up a treatment unit in Isfahan " Iran's second worst affected province " after sending a 50-bed inflatable treatment unit and an emergency team of nine people.
Consul general Hosseini said it was hard to predict how the situation in Iran would develop, especially considering the two-week holiday period for the Persian New Year. "Normally people gather and have special ceremonies, then they may travel around and see relatives. This may complicate things," he said.
"The government has taken some special arrangements [but] it will depend on the cooperation of the people with the authorities."
A closed mall in Tehran's grand bazaar. Photo: EPA alt=A closed mall in Tehran's grand bazaar. Photo: EPA
Authorities have asked people to refrain from travelling and on Sunday major shopping malls were closed for two weeks.
Hosseini denied that the numbers released by the Iranian government had not been fully transparent, and said similar claims had emerged in other countries.
Regarding widespread criticism of Iranian authorities' reluctance to take strict measures, such as locking down cities, he acknowledged there were different opinions about the quarantine measures, but said that did not equate to lack of trust in the government.
Professor Ehteshami said Iran's leaders had failed to act quickly enough.
"The leadership has arguably failed the Iranian people on every front," the scholar said. "Now they have no choice but to be more honest and transparent, but at what cost to society?"
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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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