TEHRAN– President Hassan Rouhani called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) not to follow the US bullying and shoulder its responsibilities toward other countries, especially amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“We have not asked for anything from the IMF in the past 50 years, and we have met all our obligations; should the Fund not fulfill its responsibilities in these hard times, the world will interpret it differently,” Rouhani said in a cabinet session on Wednesday.

Referring to the US’ unilateral approaches that have hampered many countries’ battle against the coronavirus outbreak, the president said, “The US has always adopted its unilateral policies, and it has repeated its wrong stance in the case of this disease.”

“The history will never forget that the White House, which was an economic terrorist, has now become a terrorist in the medical field, too,” Rouhani added.

He added that Washington has clearly breached the 2005 resolution of the World Health Organization, which entails the cooperation of all countries during the pandemics, saying such shame will always remain with the US government.

He noted that the Iranian nation has proved their endurance in the past difficulties and will definitely overcome the current challenges with reliance on their own capabilities and with the help of the friendly countries.

The president said the Iranian medical sector is making every effort to supply the needs to contain the COVID-19, noting Iran will become self-sufficient in coronavirus test kits in the near future.

In early March, the Central Bank of Iran asked the IMF for $5 billion emergency funding to fight a coronavirus pandemic as the number of infections keeps growing in the country.

However, the United States has refused to lift sanctions on Iran and even tightened them several times in recent weeks, making it almost impossible for the Islamic Republic to access life-saving medications and medical equipment necessary in the fight against the pandemic.

Iran says the unilateral US sanctions have seriously hampered its fight against the pandemic.

Over 62,000 people have so far been infected with the new coronavirus in Iran, and the death toll has neared 4,000.

Iranian Minister of Health and Medical Education Saeed Namaki said, “Effective measures have so been taken in controlling the outbreak and we hope that by the end of the next Iranian month [May 20] we will have reached an important stage in battling the pandemic.”