TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday that if the global coronavirus pandemic fails to stop melancholy in politics and irresponsible unilateralism, the world and its "moral values will fail again".

In an Instagram post in Persian, Zarif wrote, “These days the world is fighting against a common challenge. This time, it is not related to the borders and interests but it is about humanity, living, and staying.”

“The painful image of these days is a unique image of our day that has put the whole world in an unprecedented quest against a universal challenge,” he added, according to Mehr news agency.

“For the world to come back to life, we must believe that all this earth is a land of struggle and wherever we fail on the planet, the whole world has failed,” Zarif warned.

“The world owes to all efforts whether in Wuhan, Tehran, Milan, Madrid or New York,” he said, adding, “Every bitter news and sad picture of human deaths demand the mourning of the whole world.”

The chief Iranian diplomat highlighted, “Fighting against coronavirus is a human campaign and disrupting it will be immoral and inhumane.”

Zarif insisted that if the global coronavirus epidemic fails to stop melancholy in politics and irresponsible unilateralism, "the world and its moral values will fail again".

“The Iranian health sector, citizens and government, like Europe and the United States, are engaged in countering coronavirus, but what doubles the suffering of Iranians, what limits their choices in crisis management, and what aggravates concerns for citizens' livelihood, is that sanctions and coronavirus are coming at the same time,” he stated.

“Iran is the only country that does not have access to all of its resources to protect its citizens; Iran is the only country that cannot easily buy medical equipment and supplies in the face of disease,” Zarif lamented, adding, “The combination of sanctions and coronavirus is a more dangerous enemy and a more serious complication which makes corona bolder and makes crisis management decisions more difficult.”

The foreign minister said, “The world needs a moral will against the U.S. excessive demands, and complying with sanctions should not lead to more war crimes.”

“This is the nastiest face of a government that is addicted to sanctions and wants to revive the failed campaign of maximum pressure by weakening Iran against coronavirus,” he added, saying the Iranian Foreign Ministry does not miss a single moment to "protect the health of citizens because people are always a top priority”.

Along with nurses, doctors, hospital staff, and other sectors, Iranian diplomats are also confronting coronavirus, Zarif said.

“To fight the coronavirus, along with the efforts of my colleagues around the world to fulfill the medical needs of the country, we must try to discredit the sanctions and this is the duty of Iranian diplomacy,” the  foreign minister stressed.