The Syrian MFA strongly condemned the policy of sanction pressure from the US and the West amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“A Foreign and Expatriates Ministry official source said in a statement to SANA on Thursday that in light of the dangerous escalation represented by the Coronavirus and the international alert to confront this pandemic and to contain it and prevent its spread, the U.S. and the European Union are continuing to impose illegitimate unilateral coercive measures on a number of states, some of which are hugely suffering from the spread of the virus, in a blatant violation of human rights and the simplest humanitarian values and principles,” SANA reported.

“The Syrian Arab Republic whose people have suffered and still suffer from the terrorist aggression and the illegitimate unilateral coercive measures which affect the life of the citizens and particularly the health sector, calls on the international community to respect the principles of the international humanitarian law and the sanctity of the human life, and to work on lifting those sanctions immediately, particularly in the current circumstances after the Coronavirus has spread in the neighboring countries.

The Syrian MFA has also expressed solidarity with Iran, Venezuela, Cuba and other countries that confront a dangerous infection, and demands immediate lifting of sanctions against them without any conditions and an end to the severe blockade. Syria "holds the U.S. and its allies, who impose those sanctions and boast of protecting human rights, fully responsible for every human victim of this pandemic through hindering the efforts which aim at confronting this virus which constitutes a serious threat to all humanity and through preventing the help in curbing the virus.”