Iran seeks billions in loans to fight virus, as death toll rises by 75

US, which is upholding its ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions campaign against Tehran, all but has a veto on International Monetary Fund board

TEHRAN — Iran announced on Thursday that another 75 people had died of the new coronavirus, bringing the overall number of deaths to 429 out of more than 10,000 infections.

“Seventy-five people hospitalized in the past few days have lost their lives and today a total of 429 infected people are no longer with us,” health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised news conference.

Iran said that it has sought immediate financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund to help it combat one of the world’s deadliest coronavirus outbreaks.

According to a tweet by Iran’s top diplomat, IMF chief Kristina Georgieva had “stated that countries affected by #COVID19 will be supported via Rapid Financial Instrument (RFI).”

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during talks in Moscow, Russia, December 30, 2019. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)

“Our central bank requested access to this facility immediately,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif added on his Twitter account.

Iran has not received assistance from the IMF since a “standby credit” issued between 1960 and 1962, according to the fund’s data.

Zarif said the IMF and its board “should adhere to fund’s mandate, stand on right side of history and act responsibly.”

The various loans that can be granted by the IMF must be approved by the institution’s executive board, where the United States practically has a veto on decisions.

The United States is currently pursuing a policy of “maximum pressure” aimed at crippling the finances of Iran’s government.

In this March, 10, 2020 photo, paramedics work in a laboratory that tests samples taken from patients suspected of being infected with the new coronavirus, in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, Iran. (Amin Nazari/ISNA via AP)

In an Instagram post picked up by state news agency IRNA, central bank governor Abdolnasser Hemmati claimed to have formally requested access to RFI by letter on March 6.

“Given the widespread prevalence of coronavirus in our country and the need to continue to take strong measures to prevent and cure (the disease), and to address its economic impact,” Iran was asking for “about $5 billion” in assistance, Hemmati wrote on his Instagram account.

The World Health Organization called for Iran to be given more support in its fight to bring the outbreak under control.

“Iran is doing its best… We are trying to mobilize more support for Iran,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva, adding that the country needed more supplies.

According to the IMF’s website, the RFI “provides rapid financial assistance, which is available to all member countries facing an urgent balance of payments need.”