Press TV - President Hassan Rouhani has rejected as insincere the United States� offer of help to Iran in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic, saying Washington should first lift its sanctions on medical supplies if it really seeks to help the Islamic Republic.

�Our people know well that you are lying, that you are not telling the truth,� Rouhani said addressing the United States, during a cabinet session in Tehran on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the US was willing to help the Iranians with the problem, adding that �all they have to do is ask.� US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had also claimed during a House hearing on Friday that the Islamic Republic did not have a solid healthcare infrastructure and that the US had offered to help it with the coronavirus response.
�The worst thing the ill-wishers of Iran and Iranians can do is to exploit the circumstances brought up by the intrusion of one virus into the country to target our people,� Rouhani said.
�Mask of sympathy�

The same country that has been taking the most �sinister� of actions against the Iranians over the past two years by re-imposing sanctions on their supplies of food and medicine is now hiding behind �a mask of sympathy� and pretending that it means to assist the nation, the president added, referring to Washington.

The US reinstated its sanctions against Iran in May 2018 after leaving a historic nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic and others. Washington�s withdrawal from the deal and its returning of the bans came while the accord, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has been ratified into a United Nations� Security Council resolution.

Tehran sued Washington at the International Court of Justice afterwards. The tribunal obliged the latter to lift its sanctions on Iran-bound humanitarian supplies.
�If you [the US] are really telling the truth, you should at least lift your sanctions on medicine. This would be a first step. And you also need to admit that you have done wrong to the Iranian nation and offer them an apology,� Rouhani said, also urging Washington to lift the bans on supplies of foodstuffs to the country.
The chief executive also decried certain foreign media outlets for their attempts at causing public distress through dissemination of �false news� concerning the outbreak. This is while, the Islamic Republic instructed the Health Ministry to be fully transparent and inform the people regarding the outbreak from the very early stages, he added.

He, however, thanked all the countries that have lent support to the country in the face of the outbreak.

The new virus emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, and has claimed more than 3,000 lives worldwide so far.

In Iran, it first showed up in the north-central city of Qom. By Wednesday, the country reported 92 fatalities, and 2,922�cases of infection.

Iran has mobilized all its resources to tackle the issue, including increased production and import of hygiene and protective items as well as enforcing diagnostic measures across the nation.

Most recently, Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade Reza Rahmani said the production of disinfectants and hygiene products had at least doubled over the past two weeks.

�Coronavirus merchants�

The president also berated �coronavirus merchants,� who hoard essential supplies, or others who take to social media platforms to misinform the public about the outbreak.

On Monday, the Iranian Administration�s Spokesman Ali Rabiei said the country had kick-started efforts to manufacture around 1.5 million face masks per day. The official also said more than 1.2 million masks had been confiscated from hoarders across the country.