TEHRAN - The Iranian ambassador to New Delhi has said the Islamic Republic expects India and the rest of the international community to stand against the “unjust” U.S. sanctions that are hurting millions of Iranians amid the Covid-19 crisis.

In an interview with Hindustan Times published on Tuesday, Ali Chegeni also talked about India-Iran cooperation to tackle the pandemic and the steps being taken to help the 255 Indians who tested positive for Covid-19 in the holy city of Qom and the 5,000-odd Indians stranded in different parts of Iran.

Chegeni said, “Both countries, in a close and warm contact, have worked together to evacuate their stranded nationals and until now, eight batches of Indian nationals were transferred to India by seven Iranian airliners and one aircraft of the Indian Air Force, and the local authorities and Indian missions in Iran are providing all possible humanitarian assistance to the remaining Indians, including pilgrims, students and fisherman.”

The diplomat also said those Indians who tested positive for Covid-19 are being treated in Qom and Tehran.

“They have been accommodated in some good hotels and guesthouse advised by Qom governorate under supervision and credit of Indian embassy in Tehran. Those who have tested positive, have been immediately hospitalized and offered the necessary medical treatment free of charge by Iran’s government. The Indian embassy is following their situation closely.”

On the current situation in Iran with regard to the coronavirus, the ambassador said, “Despite the brutal and inhumane U.S. sanctions, our situation is relatively good in fighting the pandemic in comparison with some other countries. Keep in your mind, we could not take advantage of the experiences of others while Iran was among the countries hardest hit by the highly contagious virus in the first phase of spreading of Covid-19 across the globe.  Now, hopefully the curve shows that the pandemic is falling [from] the peak as the number of new infection cases have dropped from 3,200 to 1,600 on a daily basis.”

Ambassador Chegeni also said in cooperation with the Indian authorities, a majority of Iranian citizens in India have been evacuated.

“Still there are around 200 Iranian tourists and students who, at this stage, requested the embassy for their immediate return to Iran. We expect to send them back home by an Iran Air flight from Mumbai in the coming days.”

PA/PA