the trump administration says the financial sanctions against iran do not prevent humanitarian aid is that true what effect are these sanctions having right now in the fight against the virus. well what the administration says is true on paper so according to law skank shown do not include or basically food medicine and humanitarian trade is supposed to be exempt from sanctions but in reality we see lawyer sanctions experts and basically business people who are in the import export trade are saying banks because of financial sanctions thanks for staying away from doing any kind of business with iran and that has been hindering their hampering all kinds of trade including humanitarian imports medicine and medical supplies which has crew contribution to a shortage of these supplies in the country and just one example of how that's not true is the fact that the u.s. just ease a little bit of sanctions on iran central bank for humans and basically saying that they are opening route for humanitarian channels and also they help create a humanitarian channel with this wish to facilitate some

plus stop the sanctions iran says the u.s. needs to leave to its crippling economic embargo to help the country fight its devastating coronavirus outbreak brown has recently rejected a u.s. offer of a. thanks for joining me german chancellor angela merkel has gone into home quarantine after a doctor who treated her was diagnosed with the corona virus on friday who is 65 received a vaccine against a different virus from the doctor who tested positive for coated 19 spokesperson says she'll now undergo daily testing her last act before going into quarantine was to announce stringent new social or strict across germany. and get america about to announce the most severe infringement on individual freedoms seen in germany since world war 2 the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly convincing the chancellor that further containment measures are needed so far it has largely been left to states and municipalities to curb the contagion creating a patchwork of rules and guidelines the new measures will be rolled out across germany. the

sanctions against iran are unilateral. but the point is in implementing our sanctions, we have fantastic partners all over the globe from europe to south america to asia, who are not only complying with u.s. sanctions, but are proactive proactively helping implement our sanctions. so at least in that respect, our sanctions are multilateral. and i don't think you would have seen the success that we've seen if they weren't. >> and they're multilateral not just in the sense of being multilateral with other jurisdictions, but sometimes they're multilateral with different types of actors. i know when i was at treasury and we were implementing the snapback of sanctions, we were very pleased to see how many companies, european companies in particular said, we're not willing to continue to do operations in iran in potential violation of u.s. sanctions. and so we're going to pull out. >> absolutely. and i think that's a perfect example of american clarity and leadership. when we take the lead, the world soon follows. and when we say

let me move on to respect to iran and the sanctions regime towards iran they are to deprive the regime of funding is to engage its host of online maligd activities all around the world from developing ballistic missiles to engaging in a proxy war. to the sponsorshithrough the spf terrorist organizations from hezbollah on down. to come to the negotiating table and address the points laid out clearly goes towards the five key objectives. objectives. no one comes to the sponsorship of terrorism. number two come, stop for a pror in the region. number three, gav give a full accounting of the nuclear program with inspection of all sites and number four, stop your development of ballistic missiles and number five, release all hostages including of course the u.s. hostages. the. funding the militia hezbollah for the first time is making desperate pleas for donations to fund its activities but look at the numbers. oil revenues were down 80%. it isn't going to be in the regime to fund its maligned activities abroad and connect the human rights abuses at home. they are now putting some production

to president trump on humanitarian grounds to lift the sanctions against iran till the cove in 1000 pandemic is over while this appeal do anything to encourage the u.s. to lift the sanctions i mean you heard president trump saying that he's ready to work with north korea and iran and what are other countries saying about this. well other countries are stepping up aside pakistan you have the emirates you have kuwait you have cutter they are all calling on the u.s. to do more they're also by the way each of those countries providing iran with cash and their city medical supplies despite u.s. ages they are sending medical supplies into iran also china russia they have called for those same sins to be removed at least temporarily they say so that the iranians can obtain test kits because they say they don't have any testing kits there and protective gear specifically for medics and doctors and we're working with people because they don't have that i mean you have to consider the fact that what u.s. sanctions have done is meant in the enormous limitation not just on medicine but on just t

to president trump on humanitarian grounds to lift the sanctions against iran till the cove in 1000 pandemic is over while this appeal do anything to encourage the u.s. to lift the sanctions i mean you heard president trump saying that he's ready to work with north korea and iran and what are other countries saying about this. well other countries are stepping up aside pakistan you have the emirates you have kuwait you have cutter they are all calling on the u.s. to do more they're also by the way each of those countries providing iran with cash and their city medical supplies despite u.s. ages they are sending medical supplies into iran also china russia they have called for those same sins to be removed at least temporarily they say so that the iranians can obtain test kits because they say they don't have any testing kits there and protective gear specifically for medics and doctors and we're working with people because they don't have that i mean you have to consider the fact that what u.s. sanctions have done is meant in the enormous limitation not just on medicine but on just t

to president trump on humanitarian grounds to lift the sanctions against iran till the cove in 1000 pandemic is over while this appeal do anything to encourage the u.s. to lift the sanctions i mean you heard president trump saying that he's ready to work with north korea and iran and what are other countries saying about this. well other countries are stepping up aside pakistan you have the emirates you have kuwait you have cutter they are all calling on the u.s. to do more they're also by the way each of those countries providing iran with cash and their sydney medical supplies despite u.s. ages they are sending medical supplies into iran also china russia they have called for the same chance to be removed at least temporarily they say so that the iranians can obtain test kits because they say they don't have any testing kits there and protective gear specifically for medics and doctors and we're working with people because they don't have that i mean you have to consider the fact that what u.s. sanctions have done is meant in the norm is a limitation not just on medicine but on jus

sanctions that are not only in place but that have been the new sanctions that have been put into place against iran since the outbreak of the coronavirus in this country the united states started on tuesday by placing sanctions against pakistan russia china and the u.a.e. with regards to facilitating iran's nuclear program and that was announced on tuesday and as if to put a fine point on america's resolve to continue sanctioning iran despite the ongoing global pandemic of the coronavirus on the eve of the persian new year late last night the united states announced more sanctions this time against 5 oil entities in the united arab emirates that they say have purchased iranian oil and facilitated the united states sees this illegal trade of iranian oil now this is certainly going to be something that iranians will be watching closely iranian say that they are sanctions 2 to the maximum level of possible sanctions no sanctions any more can really hurt their all symbolic but now we see the united states going after countries that are perhaps cozying up to iran or have warmer relations with iran to th

that if there was any question about america's resolve to perhaps take pressure off of iran in terms of sanctions at this time of a public health crisis those questions have been answered the united states will do whatever it can to continue to maintain pressure on iran through sanctions zain thanks very much. well coded 19 as the virus is officially known as being tracked by johns hopkins university in the u.s. it's using figures from a number of sources including the world health organization and the centers for disease control in the u.s. and in europe 1st let's look at the number there in red in the top left of your screen it shows the number of cases is now topped more than 244000 worldwide on the other side in quite the number of deaths that's a past 10000 but it's important to look at the number in green that shows that more than 86000 people have recovered. well the governor of the most populous state in the u.s. has told everyone to stay home as the virus spreads across california governor gavin newsom issued a warning against all nonessential movement pharmacies and food stores will rem

sanctions iran is the hardest hit country in the middle east with over $600.00 confirmed deaths and 13000 infections china said it would step up cooperation with iran in a bid to help deal with the virus security forces have been sent to clear the streets many iranians though continue to ignore government calls to stay at interior ministry is now ordered the closure of all religious sites in the holy city of form where the virus was 1st detected. joins us live from iran's capital tehran so iranians were given 24 hours to get off the streets as attempts continue to try and stop the spread of the virus but they don't seem to be listening to that. that's exactly right now we're talking about is a direct command by the supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei just a couple of days ago just a day ago to the chief of the armed forces major general mohamad the issue there was that he wanted the military to step in and take control of the situation control crowds and try to stop a large groups of people from forming at bazaars and markets and supermarkets and really this was to try to limit the spre

sanctions iran is the hardest hit country in the middle east with $611.00 confirmed deaths and almost $13000.00 infections security forces have been sent out to clear the streets all religious sites in the holy city of cole where the virus was 1st detected have been closed same as robbie is in tehran he says mistrust of the government has also hampered efforts to contain the virus. ever since the outbreak began here iran is getting the public on board getting the public to cooperate with much of the guidance coming from the health ministry about social distancing now what has happened today is that the interior ministry has ordered that the city of qom shut down 2 very important shrines actually a shrine as well as a mosque now these are major attractions for people thousands of people visit this these sites on a daily basis and now the order is to close them down but it has to be said in that order it said that they will be closed soon and earlier this evening these sites remained open now it is a good step forward for the government to shut down these sites these home was of course

sanctions fresh iran related u.s. sanctions this time targeting 5 entities based in the united arab emirates for helping iran to sell its oil that's the allegation so really iranians and everyone else watching is likely well we're like people were likely looking at these speeches to see if there was any reaction to what had happened and certainly sanctions were on the top of the list but we have to remember that on tuesday just earlier this week was another round of sanctions this time targeting iran's nuclear related activities targeting 5 iranian nuclear scientists as well as several entities in pakistan russia china and the united arab emirates and really the united states is sending a message that whether or not we can sanction iran directly will go after people that are too cozy with iran 3rd parties and things of that nature and certainly each one of these countries that was hit by sanctions on tuesday and again late yesterday they've all helped iran in terms of reacting to the corona virus outbreak here in the c

related sanctions this time on 5 entities helping allegedly to helping iran trade oil a few years ago based out of the united arab emirates and both of the leaders addressed the issue of sanctions the supreme leader said it has made the country stronger and going forward the country must continue to focus on domestic production to continue to be strong in the face of sanctions and president hassan rouhani said sanctions which all leaders of argued have been one of the biggest problems for the country in terms of combating coronavirus that had a compound in effect. making it very difficult for iran to come back to the spread of the virus president rouhani said that sanctions a forced iran to be less reliant on oil and develop its an economic infrastructure and the economic outlook has been positive now many people will see this is a difficult thing to recognize especially in such difficult financial times but he did try to strike an optimistic note and told people to look ahead and stay strong together here's some of what he said. at the end of the iranian year we encountered

sanctions iran is the hardest hit country in the middle east with $611.00 confirmed deaths many iranians continue to ignore government coals to stay at home a pandemic has prompted colombia to shut its land border with venezuela after it confirmed its 1st 2 cases on friday the border is crossed by thousands of venezuelans every day in search of food and medicine because of the economic crisis they face in their own country but perhaps some better news from who by province where the virus originated as a 50 day lockdown is finally starting to ease the number of new virus cases imported into china has exceeded the amount of locally transmitted infections for the 1st time so an important change that. al-jazeera world is coming up next with an episode called the french oriental ist i'll see you in about 25 minutes time with another update of global news by female. orlov her or. this is the hotel draw a well established french auction house in the 9th out on the small of paris known for selling final art and antiques. the auction today is of 19th and early 20th century work by artists who pai

sanctions have targeted the banking industry the oil industry iran is sanction to the maximum amount anything else that's fallen since 2018 has been largely symbolic what the last few rounds of sanctions are doing are targeting entities in a series of iranian influence like a markets in the u.a.e. iraq china russia august on these are all countries that have in some way helped iran have offered assistance of offered more moral help in terms of dealing with the coronavirus and we're seeing the united states now going after those types of activities that went after people connected to iran's nuclear program then they went after entities that they said were connected to the sale of iranian oil and now they're going after entities that they say proliferate any sort of other market transaction perhaps the gray market that iran has talked about in terms of continuing to be able to deal with the global marketplace so what we're seeing is this continued. pressure on iran if there was ever any question by world leaders including the u.n. officials who have been calling for a stoppage of the s

sanctions iran is one of the worst affected countries with more than 600 deaths and 13000 infections the pandemic has prompted colombia to shut its land border with venezuela after it confirmed its 1st 2 cases on friday the border is crossed by thousands of venezuelans every day searching for food and medicine because of the economic crisis that that country is in. people in manila have been told to stay home as a lockdown comes into effect in the philippines capital this is a saying on friday as people rush to leave before all domestic travel in and out of the city was suspended residents have been told to own lately the house for work and emergencies iraq's military says 2 air defense service men and 3 coalition members have been critically injured in a rocket attack on tashi base north of baghdad it's not yet known who is responsible it comes a day after u.s. air strikes on multiple sites in iraq the pentagon says it targeted those responsible for killing 2 americans and one british soldier on wednesday. the russian fire is largely holding an adlib syria's last rebel held area ear

sanctions against iran but to run complains that other financial restrictions including against the country's banks that limit its ability to import vital medication the sanctions have led to shortages of drugs used to treat cancer and epilepsy there are however many in the u.s. establishment it like to see those sanctions made tougher a case in point is an advocacy group united against nuclear iran which is spearheaded by a former u.s. government officials like john bolton a precious big pharmaceutical companies to stop doing business with to run however since the corona virus outbreak it is that it believes the humanitarian needs of the iranian people must be met well as the brain can i guess now for society mohammad marandi from the university of tehran welcome to the program great to have you with us now how is the health care situation in iran right now is the system capable of handling the current outbreak. no actually a senior official of the world health organization just yesterday said that the iranian healthcare network is the best in the region and that's despite the sanctions and

have now sent aid to iran a trade mechanism designed to avoid u.s. sanctions it's the 1st transaction under a new system set up for the exchange of humanitarian supplies and food after the u.s. withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal iran is the worst hit country outside of the us in europe it's just reported $141.00 new deaths total to nearly $2900.00 more than 44000 iranians have now been infected well for more on this let's go live to zain was ravi and tehran he joins us now on skype then i know there's been a huge shortage of ventilators for instance in iran what more do we know about this aid and just what's being sent. well you know this is the 1st shipment and it's medical supplies being traded through this through this in stacks trading system now what this is is an it's called the interest instrument in support of trade exchanges it was set up as a bypass to u.s. sanctions and to the u.s. dominated global banking system after the united states pulled out of the nuclear deal and implemented sanctions on iran's oil and banking sectors and the idea is it's a

have sent aid to iran under a trade mechanism that's designed to avoid u.s. sanctions is the 1st transaction under a new system set up for the exchange of humanitarian supplies and food after the u.s. withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal iran is the worst hit country outside of the us in europe and it's just reported $141.00 new deaths and that brings the total to 2900. india is attempting to track down people who attended a gathering of muslim religious leaders after dozens of people tested positive for the virus and at least 7 died as many as 1500 people from across the country as well as from abroad or at the meeting in new delhi. inside stories next. role coronavirus cases being reported the pandemic is spreading rapidly but some countries still don't have the capacity to test people so is that hampering efforts to curb the disease this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program the number of people infected by covert 19 is more than 700000 globally the number who have died over 34000 those are the estimates from johns hopkins university but do those figures

sanctions iran is the hardest hit country in the middle east with $611.00 confirmed deaths many iranians are ignoring government calls to stay at home though. and the pandemic has prompted colombia to shut his land border with venezuela after it confirmed its 1st 2 cases on friday the border is crossed by thousands of venezuelans every day in desperate who are in desperate need of food and medical supplies because of the economic situation in their own country. that's it from us here in london rewind is coming up next. what's behind the recent tensions between pakistan and i mean do you know we've given them the opportunity to engage but now we know allies it's not just politics it's the new can do quality can also feel pakistani foreign minister shop mahmood qureshi talks to al-jazeera. hello and welcome to rewind. back in 2014 liberia was locked in a desperate struggle to control an epidemic of the ebola virus journalist sorious samura is from neighboring sierra leone and in a remarkable documentary he followed liberia's poorly paid and in the quips health workers they risked their liv

sanctions iran. as the hardest hit country in the middle east with 611 confirmed deaths and almost 13000 infections earlier china said it would step up cooperation with iran and a bit to help dealing with the virus security forces have been sent out to clear the streets many iranians though are continuing to ignore government calls to stay at home and the interior ministry has now ordered the closure of all religious sites in the holy city of rome where the virus was 1st detected. has an update from . well many political and military leaders have continued to say that the biggest problem they're facing in terms of combating the coronavirus is the unilateral u.s. sanctions that iranians say is illegal if you think about iran it's one of the largest oil producing countries in the world if it had been for years able to sell its oil freely on the open market it would have had a large financial buffer to be able to throw money at this problem but the fact is that's not the case president hassan rouhani in

nuclear program and now we're seeing sanctions announced late last night against 5 entities in the u.a.e. with regard to iran spoil industry certainly the united states is sanctioning companies and individuals that they see as cozying up to iran now these are all countries that have helped iran in terms of the coronavirus providing some measure of aid and assistance and now it seems the united states is making it clear if there was any question about whether or not they would ease up sanctions at this time of a public health crisis in iran the answer is resoundingly no that's something iranian leaders have said or certainly been watching for and complaining about ever since this operate began the supreme leader said of sanctions trying to put a positive spin on it he said sanctions have made us better and force us to improve and benefit from self-reliance and boost domestic production he said come in the coming year that should be something we should continue to focus on more is very similar to messages he. given in previous narrow speeches from president hassan rouhani we also heard him saying sanctions hav

the re-imposition of american sanctions. iran's gradual return to nuclear activity. over the past year, its response to the u.s. maximum pressure campaign and actions that led ultimately to the targeting of general soleimani. now that iran has lifted the restrictions it had agreed to under the nuclear agreement, we could in a matter of months, certainly within a year, face the conditions in iran that last decade led the u.s. and israel to actually consider military action before we reached the agreement that we just referred to. but think about it now. here is where i was leading us. trump does not want a mid east war, that is pretty clear. and if it is regime change that he wants in iran, there is no clear path to that either. so i see u.s. strategy on this issue stuck in a cul-de-sac, which i think is evident to everyone in the gulf. that intern affects how they think about us. this came through for me pretty vividly by comments by the omani foreign minister at the munich security conference where i was a week ago. you know what that is. it's this gathering of peopl

have sent aid to iran under a trade mechanism designed to avoid u.s. sanctions it's the 1st transaction under the new system set up for the exchange of humanitarian supplies and food after the u.s. withdrew from the 2015 new kid deal iran is the worst hit country outside of the us and europe currently and it's just reported $141.00 new deaths bringing its total to nearly 2900 more than 44000 iranians have now been infected. in the capital and he explains how that trade mechanism between europe and iran works. we know that this is the 1st shipment and it's medical supplies being traded through this. through this. trading system now what this is. called the. support of trade exchanges it was set up as a bypass to us saying to the u.s. dominated global banking system after the united states pulled out of the nuclear deal and implemented sanctions on iran's oil and banking sectors and the idea is it's a barter system to help european countries signatories to the 2050 nuclear deal carry on some kind of trade in food and medical supplies and other humanitarian goods w

difficulties such as an hosking event about the sanctions because you have these you have european countries not selling supplies of testing kits to iran they fear the impact of sanctions and then i'm sure you've seen the story about google removing iran's coronavirus diagnosis app from there from that store from their online still what what does that reveal about the impact of politics and the fight between washington and tehran on the fight against the virus. well it means that when trump is talking about pursuing economic warfare we should take him at his word this is economic warfare this is impacting the entire population in clearly impacting poorer segments of the population and it is indiscriminate you cannot have sanctions on entire banking systems and all financial transactions and then claim yes but medical supplies are exempt well even if the specific medical. items are examined it doesn't mean that people can still buy them because they still need to have access to the banking system in order to be able to buy them human rights watch for instance has documented this and shown that this is a by emission of the ordinary peopl

pharmaceutical companies that are so tough that in reality no one will work with iran so the americans through the sanctions have killed the iranians and right now be or impeding iran's battle against the koran abayas. foreign ministers from across the you have thrown their full support behind greece after meeting for a 2nd day on friday to discuss the escalating refugee crisis at its border with turkey clashes have been continuing along the frontier under a heavy haze of tear gas with greek police reporting masses of asylum seekers attempting to cross through europe tens of thousands of refugees have been gathering along the border since turkey said last week it would lower longer on our 26 the migration deal broken down developments here's charlotte. well the chiefs have said they won't be pressurised foreign ministers were meeting on friday to discuss the situation here on the border between greece and turkey amid fresh tensions as you can see some of the army vehicles leading the border area now and this is both sides have been accusing the other of using tear gas we've had images from the greek side th

for example have send cancer treatment pills and such things to iran so no money is exchanged just information and therefore no sanctions this deal it came about because of the coronavirus pandemic which has hit iran particularly hard so how does tehran stand to benefit also in the longer term now. yeah the europeans set up this instrument right after the u.s. withdrew from the nuclear deal with iran just over a year ago the europeans want to preserve this deal and they want iran to stick to its promises and therefore they want to keep some sort of trade going with iran and it was very clear fairly early on that the europeans would have to focus on humanitarian goods but these are especially what iran needs right now you said it the country is extremely affected by the corona crisis and it just can't get hold of vital medical goods to combat the virus just because the banks are afraid to do any sort of deal with iran for fear of u.s. sanctions and the german foreign ministry has told us that it can't or won't release any more details as to just what was sent and how much and who sent it where but that they're very hopef

humanitarian goods including medical supplies are officially exempt from the united states is sanctions against iran but other financial restrictions including those that target the country's banks they limit to ron's ability to import vital medication and sanctions have led to shortages of drugs used to treat cancer and epilepsy there are however many in the us establishment who would like to see those sanctions made even tougher a case in point is advocacy group united against nuclear iran which is spearheaded by former u.s. government officials such as john bolton a precious big pharmaceutical companies to stop doing business with to run however since the corona virus outbreak it has said it believes the humanitarian needs of the of toronto's the sanctions are in paving of the author it is ability to find the illness. the americans have been forcing companies across the world not to cooperate with iran it's not just the banking sector the banking sector does not allow any medicine to be purchase through the network but not only are they blocking bad but they're also imposing conditions on pharmac

it from their perspective, they think it is a very dishonest gesture, because they are still sanctioning iranctions until last week. nejra: briefly, golnar, as russia, china and european countries have been urging easing of penalties, what does all this mean for the leadership in iran? golnar: they are under a huge amount of pressure, as most countries are in the world, to face this thing. iran's relationship with china has been extremely important and key here. unfortunately, it's also been one of the reasons the coronavirus entered iran in the first place. motevalli, thank you so much. up next, the u.k. on lockdown for three weeks. we look at the impact on business. this is bloomberg. ♪ nejra: good morning from london, i am nejra cehic. asian equities and u.s. futures rise as the fed unveils unprecedented measures jumping ahead of congress as a government continues to argue over stimulus. president trump says the u.s. is not built for a shutdown. the u.k. becomes the latest to put its citizens under lockdown. germany is ready to follow -- ready to help italy. and wuhan prepares to lift its

get to musef from -- >> [speaking foreign language] tariq: our friend musef is asking about sanctions to iran and how sanctions on iran have impacted the capacity of the country to respond to this outbreak. dr. ryan: we've been working very closely with the authorities in iran and with many, many countries around the world now who have worked with us to ensure that iran gets the assistance and help that it needs. we've again said right the way through this epidemic that we want to avoid politicization of these events and we thank those members states. there are a wide range of member states from different political and different persuasions and ideologies who have agreed to act in solidarity together to support iran's situation. we are focused as we have been on providing lab supplies and reagents in supplying ppe and in ensuring that iran has access to the markets it needs to do that. we've been working at a very detailed level, not only through the sanctions, but through the banking system and others to free up the necessary resources and to free up and provide the necessary assurances to c

sanctions iran is the hardest hit country in the middle east with 611 confirmed deaths and almost 13000 infections security forces have been sent out to clear the streets all religious sites in the holy city of qom where the virus was 1st detected have been close. dozens of south africans brought home from war han have been moved into quarantine they were working and studying in the chinese city when corona virus was 1st discovered now residents near the south african cornton site say the government's putting venom at risk. from limpopo province. for the $114.00 south africans on board this plane it's been a long 14 hour journey home from the chinese city of will hand a sense of relief after months of lockdown for the corona virus that has now been partially lifted we spoke to english teacher amy put to way before she left to hand she told us she hadn't left her apartment there for more than 50 days. as the passengers left the plane health officials made sure restrictions were followed roads are blocked off to make the bus journey from the airport and pull kwame to the quarantine sites

humanitarian goods including medical supplies are officially exempt from the united states sanctions against iran and other financial structures though including those that target the country's banks impede their arms ability to import vital medication and sanctions have for instance led to shortages of drugs used to treat cancer and epilepsy as well well there are those in the united states establishment been pushing for even tougher measures a case in point the advocacy group united against nuclear iran which is spearheaded by former u.s. government officials including the notoriously hawkish john bolton prior to the coronavirus outbreak it had been pressuring big pharmaceutical companies to stop trading with iran and has since said though that the humanitarian needs of the iranian people must be met a professor said mohammed marandi from the university of tehran told us just how bitter mental existing sanctions are being. the americans have been forcing companies across the world not to cooperate with iran it's not just the banking sector the banking sector does not allow any medicine to be pu

sanctions iran is the hardest hit nation in the middle east with 611 confirmed deaths and nearly 13000 infections the security forces have been deployed to clear the streets all religious sites in the holy city of qom but the iranian outbreak was 1st detected have been closed. the pandemic has prompted colombia to shut its land border with venezuela thousands of venezuelans cross every day to buy food and medicine they can't get at home infections are rising across latin america and they're all concerns it's ill equipped to deal with the outbreak to raise a bow reports now from buenos ira's. for many venezuelans their border with colombia is a lifeline for surviving the economic crisis in their nation. but on saturday colombia's president and now sits close to contain the spread of cool vague 19 says . the border crossings with venezuela will be closed starting at 5 am it will be done as a protection measure against the situation that is also occurring in the neighboring country. on friday venezuela confirmed 2 cases of coronavirus but many fear that number could be higher as the count

on the eve of the persian new year, the united states placed more sanctions on iran related sanctionsis time sanction a -- sanctioning iranian oil sales. on tuesday, they placed sanctions on a handful of iranian nuclear scientist as well as entities based in pakistan, russia, china, and the uae. signaling that the americans are now targeting any country or entities that are becoming too close to a wrong once again. we've seen the united nations call for sanctions to be lifted along with echoing with what many iranian leaders have been saying. earlier this month, a ronnie and officials reached out to the inner cap -- international monetary fund and said they needed $5 billion in emergency aid as part of helping to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. that's one of the worst affected countries in the world. what many iranians have said is that they are hopeful that the international community will want to give them this aid but they are also very aware and cynical that the united states will try to do whatever it can to block a run for getting that money. ordered a national lockdown. th

sanctions against iran other finance restrictions on the country's banks for example impede tehran's ability to import vital medication now these sanctions have led to shortages of drugs used to treat epilepsy other illnesses as well there are however some of the united states establishment who've been pushing for even tougher measures a case in point is the advocacy group united against nuclear iran that spearheaded by former u.s. government officials including the hawkish john bolton prior to the corona virus outbreak it had been pressuring big pharmaceutical companies to stop trading with iran has since said though that the humanitarian needs of the iranian people must be met professor said mabyn morally from the university of toronto all this just how that for mental leagues this thing sanctions are being. the americans have been forcing companies across the world not to cooperate with iran it's not just the banking sector and the banking sector does not allow any medicine to be purchased through the network but not only are they blocking bad but they're also imposing conditions o

more iran related sanctions this time sanctioning 5 entities based out of the u.a.e. accusing them of facilitating iranian oil sales are now on tuesday just a few days earlier they play sanctions on a handful of iranian nuclear scientists as well as entities based in pakistan russia china and the u.a.e. signaling that the americans are now targeting any countries or any entities that are becoming too close to iran once again we've seen the u.n. help we've seen the united nations various agencies even call for sanctions to be lifted along with echoing what many iranian leaders have been saying what this i.m.f. loan is earlier this month iranian officials reached out to the international monetary fund and said that we need $5000000000.00 in emergency aid as part of helping to respond to the coronavirus outbreak in iran one of the worst affected countries in the world and what many iranians have said all along is that they are hopeful that the international community will want to give them this aid but they are also very aware and perhaps a cynical view but a realistic o

virus there might even have something to do with the actual outbreak because this sanctions made it impossible for iran to do business with other countries except china as a china was its a lifeline to circumvent those sanctions and they kept doing business with china even after the outbreak they had because you just can't stop doing business with the only country that still doing business with you and even now the sanctions having an effect on the fight against the virus because iran has a severe lack of medical equipment not so much because there are sanctions against medical equipment but because of the financial sanctions that make it almost impossible to buy stuff from other countries and actually pay for it so sanctions are severely hampering the fight against the virus but so far from washington no signs of lifting them it sounds like the establishment in tehran though has been its own worst enemy because iran has not done a good job of containing this virus in the 1st place not so much many iranians are blaming their own government for mismanaging the virus crisis for doing too little too late

humanitarian goods including medical medical supplies or officially exempt from the united states sanctions against iran but other financial restrictions as we heard there including those that target the country's banks limit to rounds ability to import vital medication is the cash the sanctions have led to shortages of drugs used to treat cancer and epilepsy there are many in the us establishment to even at this time would like to see those sanctions made even tougher a case in point is the other because the group united against nuclear iran which is spearheaded by the former u.s. government officials said of them like john bolton for instance it pressures big pharmaceutical companies to stop doing business with iran but since the corona virus outbreak it has said it believes the humanitarian needs of the iranian people must be met nonetheless contradiction there may be professor side mohammad marandi from university to read told us the sanctions are impeding the authorities ability to fight the illness. the americans have been forcing companies across the world not to cooperate with iran it's not just

sanctions but rather to tackle the difficulties that iran has been facing and is going to be facing moving forward despite the u.s. sanctions good to get perspective a new super city type of music from receive thanks very much my pleasure thank you . a 14 day nationwide lockdown has come into effect in uganda in an effort to slow the spread of virus the president has already banned public transport close the borders and urged people to stay at home uganda has 33 confirmed cases in nigeria the government has imposed a 2 week lockdown for nearly 30000000 people on monday lagos and to be jeff ace major gridlock and residents hurried to stockpile supplies before the order came into effect the president has declared sation of all movement with the exception of visiting hospitals and supermarkets although to me show yellow is a program manager for emergency response the world health organization in africa and he says the management of corona virus in the region has to be adapted to local circumstances when confinement missiles not taken in the african contests he said that we take into account h