Tehran Times - An Iranian parliamentarian wrote on her official Twitter account on Saturday that the U.S. economic terrorism and illegal sanctions are now among the main barriers facing Iran to mitigate COVID-19 outbreak.

In her tweet, Fatemeh Hosseini appreciated sympathetic message of Gabriela Cuevas Barron, the current president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) for her insistence on the need to lift cruel and illegal sanctions imposed on Iran by the Trump administration.

The IPU is the global organization of national parliaments.

Hosseini, who serves as the executive manager of the Iranian parliament in the IPU, underscored, "My colleague and I are resolved to do our best to cope seriously with the coronavirus consequences on the people."

In a message to Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani on April 3, Barron expressed concern over the speaker’s health after he tested positive for COVID-19. She wished him immediate recovery.

She also expressed her solidarity with all members of the Iranian parliament, saying, “Together we can defeat the Coronavirus.”

Formerly the speakers of Russian, Syrian parliaments, and Pakistani-Iranian parliamentary friendship group had wished immediate recovery for Larijani in separate messages.

On Friday, Iran's ambassador permanent representative to the UN office in Geneva said in a letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) chief that the imposition and intensification of U.S. sanctions on Iran amidst the coronavirus pandemic amount to a "crime against humanity".

Ambassador Esmaeil Baghaei Hamaneh said the imposition of cruel and illegal sanctions has blocked Iran's banking transactions with other countries to buy commodities needed to contain the rapidly-spreading deadly virus.

The Iranian envoy stressed the importance of rolling back international sanctions regimes around the world as emphasized by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who had said in a letter to the G-20 economic powers that the sanctions are heightening the health risks for millions of people and weakening the global containment endeavor.

“I am encouraging the waiving of sanctions imposed on countries to ensure access to food, essential health supplies, and COVID-19 medical support. This is the time for solidarity, not exclusion,” the UN chief wrote.

“Let us remember that we are only as strong as the weakest health system in our interconnected world.”