Zarif Blasts US for ‘Profiteering’ over Coronavirus Outbreak in China

The Iranian foreign minister has decried the United States for cashing in on the outbreak of the coronavirus in China, saying Beijing has had a more successful performance in containing the virus compared with that of the US in the 2009 H1N1 epidemic.

In a tweet in Chinese, Mohammad Javad Zarif praised China for fighting against the new coronavirus, and expressed solidarity with the Chinese nation.

He underlined that members of the human community are all parts of the same body.

“As Iranians have said, descendants of Adam are brothers, which means they are brothers and sisters,” he wrote.

Accordingly, he added, “if one member of the body is contaminated, the whole body will be contaminated,” added Zarif.

In another tweet, the top Iranian diplomat touched upon his phone conversation with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

“In a telephone conversation with my good friend, Wang Yi, the prime minister and foreign minister of China, I expressed my appreciation for China’s successful measures to fight the contagious disease (the coronavirus),” Zarif tweeted.

“China not only stopped the outbreak of this contagious disease from getting worse in the country (China), but contained its spread at the international level as well,” he added.

“We condemn the United States’ profiteering with regards to the danger posed by the outbreak of the virus,” he said.

“It is clear that China was more responsible and more successful than the US in containing the H1N1 flu virus back in 2009,” he said.

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said recently that the deadly coronavirus outbreak in China could be positive for the American economy.

“I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America,” he said in a TV interview.

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