Iranian artists ask colleagues across globe to stand up to US sanctions

A group of Iranian artists active in various fields of arts, including filmmaking and music, have penned a letter to their colleagues in other countries, asking them to raise awareness about the urgent need for taking collective global action to lift brutal sanctions that the Western countries, especially the US, have imposed on Iran as the country is fighting a deadly outbreak of new coronavirus, known as COVID-19.

According to Press TV, in the letter signed by 253 Iranian artists and is expected to be signed by many more in other countries, the writers have slammed the illegal sanctions imposed by the West, topped by the US, on Iran at a time that the country is in urgent need of medical and other humanitarian supplies to ward off the deadly virus outbreak.

The Iranian artists’ letter echoes an outcry on national and international levels against the brutal US sanctions, with various officials from Iran, Russia, and China, as well as medical organizations, doctors and different rights groups urging the administration of US President Donald Trump to lift the illegal sanctions, which have made it actually impossible for Iran to even buy and import medicine.

Health Ministry Spokesman, Kianoush Jahanpour, said on Monday that the number of coronavirus deaths in the country has increased to 1,812 and the total cases to 23,049 during the past 24 hours.

“There have been 127 new deaths and 1,411 new infections since Sunday," he said.

SS