Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks live on television after casting his ballot in the Iranian presidential election in Tehran June 12, 2009. REUTERS/Caren Firouz/File Photo
Tehran[IranĀ ], Mar 23 (ANI): IranĀ ‘s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei refused American assistance to fight the coronavirus citing a conspiracy theory, claiming it could be man-made by the United States government. His comments came as IranĀ faces crushing US sanctions blocking the country from selling its crude oil and accessing international financial markets, Al Jazeera reported. While IranĀ in recent days has increasingly criticised those sanctions, 80-year-old Khamenei instead questions the real origins of the virus.
“I do not know how real this accusation is but when it exists, who in their right mind would trust you to bring them medication?” Khamenei said. “Possibly your medicine is a way to spread the virus more.” He also alleged the virus “is specifically built for IranĀ using the genetic data of IranĀ ians, which they have obtained through different means”.
However, US Secretary of State Mike PompeoĀ denounced Ayatollah Khamenei’s remarks on Monday, saying his “lies” were endangering people’s lives. The statement also mentioned “failed” steps taken by IranĀ to counter the virus as “facts that IranĀ regime would like to keep from the world”.
The US secretary of state accused IranĀ of “putting millions of lives at risk and infecting its people with running 55 flights between Tehran and ChinaĀ in February, ignoring repeated warnings from its own health officials, and denying its first death from the coronavirus for at least nine days”. (ANI)Ā
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