Iranian official: Thousands die of COVID due to US sanctions

A man receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a mobile vaccine clinic bus at the Grand Bazaar of Tehran, Iran on Jan 22, 2022. (VAHID SALEMI / AP)

KUALA LUMPUR / SINGAPORE / TEHRAN – A top Iranian human rights official on Sunday blamed US sanctions that deny Iranians access to essential medicines for thousands of deaths in the country during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kazem Gharibabadi, secretary of the Iranian High Council for Human Rights and deputy chief of the Iranian Judiciary for international affairs, made the remarks while speaking to Iranian media in New York, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported. During the visit, he will attend the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee meetings, according to IRNA.

The US sanctions, preventing Iran from transferring money through financial channels, made it difficult for Iran to import COVID-19 vaccines and the necessary medicine during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Kazem Gharibabadi, secretary of the Iranian High Council for Human Rights and deputy chief of the Iranian Judiciary for international affairs

Gharibabadi noted that the sanctions, preventing Iran from transferring money through financial channels, made it difficult for the country to import COVID-19 vaccines and the necessary medicine during that period.

The United States and some European countries claimed to support Iranians' human rights, particularly during the recent "riots" in Iran, while the lives of millions of Iranians have been affected by the US unilateral sanctions and some European countries' compliance, he said.

"We see that those countries that consider themselves human rights advocates, particularly the United States and some other Western states, are extensively violating such rights in their own territories or in other countries. We maintain that these states are in no way eligible for being the flagbearers of human rights," he noted.

According to the Iranian Health Ministry, nearly 7,560,000 people have so far been infected with the coronavirus in the country, of which 144,609 have died of the disease.

Due to the US sanctions, which have indirectly impacted Iran's imports of medicine and other humanitarian items, the country initially could not purchase COVID-19 vaccines and necessary medicine, witnessing on some days, death tolls of around 700 per day in 2021, according to the ministry.

Malaysia

Malaysia reported 2,882 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Saturday, bringing the national total to 4,946,583, according to the health ministry.

There is one new imported case, with 2,881 cases being local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.

Another nine new deaths have been reported, pushing the death toll to 36,546.

The ministry reported 4,730 new recoveries, lifting the total number of cured and discharged to 4,878,828.

READ MORE: Malaysians urged to mask up as fresh COVID-19 cases spike

Singapore

Singapore reported 1,940 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, bringing the total tally to 2,138,598.

A total of 247 cases are currently warded in hospitals, with 12 of them in intensive care units, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health.

One new death from COVID-19 was reported on Saturday, bringing the total death toll to 1,694.