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Iran can help US fight COVID-19 but we don’t need their help, says commander

March 27, 2020 at 2:57 pm

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Hossein Salami in Tehran, Iran on 25 November 2019 [Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency]

The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Major General Hossein Salami, has said his country is capable of helping the American people fight the coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19, but has stressed that the Islamic Republic does not require any assistance from the US.

Salami made the remarks yesterday whilst on the sidelines of Iran’s biological defence drills in reaction to announcements by various US officials including the President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Washington was ready to provide assistance to Tehran in fighting the outbreak.

“When Americans say they want to help the Iranian nation under these conditions, it is nothing but demagogy,” said Salami.

His comments echoed those of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei, who said on Sunday that messages from the US to help Iran were “strange” due to shortages Americans are suffering themselves and mentioned there were claims that the US had been accused of spreading the virus, saying “I do not know whether it is true. But when there is such an allegation, can a wise man trust you and accept your help offer?”

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The IRGC commander’s comments also come amid revelations that the US has now overtaken China as the most affected country in the world, with figures collated by John Hopkins University claiming over 85,500 positive tests, despite President Trump stating the nation would get back to work “pretty quickly.”

There are also reports of nationwide shortages of medication touted as possible, unproven treatments for COVID-19, leading some doctors to stockpile the drugs for family, friends and themselves, reported Huffington Post.

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