TEHRAN- The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, in his official Twitter on Tuesday, reacted to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s remarks in naming coronavirus as Wuhan virus, saying the real problem bothering nations worldwide started in early 2017 when Donald Trump took office as the U.S. president.

“#COVID19 is a global challenge, not exclusive to any specific region or nation. For three years, though, the whole humanity has been suffering from #HLVS (Hatred & Lie & Violence Spreading) Syndrome-2017. This is a high time that the world stands up against this malign infection,” Abbas Mousavi said.  

#COVID19 is a global challenge, not exclusive to any specific region or nation. For three years, though, the whole humanity has been suffering from #HLVS (Hatred & Lie & Violence Spreading) Syndrome-2017. This is a high time that the world stands up against this malign infection. pic.twitter.com/qkjfG5l3UK

— S.A MOUSAVI (@SAMOUSAVI9) March 10, 2020

In the Fox and Friends live program released by the Mediamatters network on Friday, the host asked Pompeo that many Americans are deeply concerned about the spread of the virus and want to have confidence that the administration is taking it seriously, taking proper steps. Can you reassure the public in any way on that?

Pompeo replied, “So, it's a complicated challenge. The Wuhan virus that began at the end of last year is something that this administration is taking incredibly seriously. State Department's been very involved from the beginning when we worked diligently to get hundreds of Americans out of Hubei province, out of Wuhan and get them back to the United States safely. We continue to work around the world. We've provided assistance to the Chinese government, not just what the CDC and our technical healthcare officials are doing, but trying to make sure they have the medical supplies they need to stop the spread of this globally. That's my mission at the State Department. The Vice President has got the con on all of the missions but we've got an important role too, to make sure we get travel restrictions right, that we get travel advisories right so that we know who is coming across our border and who is coming into the country that may present risks to Americans here at home.”

MJ/PA