• Iraqi Army officers salute to a group of doctors and medical staff in central Baghdad, Iraq. AP Photo
    Iraqi Army officers salute to a group of doctors and medical staff in central Baghdad, Iraq. AP Photo
  • A member of Kurdish Internal Security stands guard as Kurdish Red Crescent medics check a passenger for Covid-19 symptoms upon arrival from the Syrian capital, at a mobile site just outside Syria's Qamishli airport in the northeastern Hasakeh province. AFP
    A member of Kurdish Internal Security stands guard as Kurdish Red Crescent medics check a passenger for Covid-19 symptoms upon arrival from the Syrian capital, at a mobile site just outside Syria's Qamishli airport in the northeastern Hasakeh province. AFP
  • Palestinian medics use a special ink to mark the fingers of Palestinian workers who cross back from Israel, at Tarqumiya crossing, near the West Bank town of Hebron. EPA
    Palestinian medics use a special ink to mark the fingers of Palestinian workers who cross back from Israel, at Tarqumiya crossing, near the West Bank town of Hebron. EPA
  • Turkish Members of Parliament wear protective facemasks and share disinfectant gel, as a precaution against coronavirus, during the general assembly meeting of The Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara. AFP
    Turkish Members of Parliament wear protective facemasks and share disinfectant gel, as a precaution against coronavirus, during the general assembly meeting of The Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara. AFP
  • People wearing protective face masks wait at the Marmaray subway station in Istanbul, Turkey. EPA
    People wearing protective face masks wait at the Marmaray subway station in Istanbul, Turkey. EPA
  • Fishermen moor their boats during a state of emergency and home confinement orders in Rabat, Morocco. AP Photo
    Fishermen moor their boats during a state of emergency and home confinement orders in Rabat, Morocco. AP Photo
  • Palestinian bodybuilder Ahmed Tlatini, aged 26, trains at his home in Gaza City. EPA
    Palestinian bodybuilder Ahmed Tlatini, aged 26, trains at his home in Gaza City. EPA
  • A Palestinian man bathes his donkey at the sea in the northern Gaza Strip. Reuters
    A Palestinian man bathes his donkey at the sea in the northern Gaza Strip. Reuters
  • A man plays The national anthem on the flute in a nearly empty street in Baghdad, Iraq. AP Photo
    A man plays The national anthem on the flute in a nearly empty street in Baghdad, Iraq. AP Photo
  • People wave national flags in solidarity with the families of those who have died or are ill with the coronavirus and support for doctors and nurses fighting to save them, in central Baghdad, Iraq. AP Photo
    People wave national flags in solidarity with the families of those who have died or are ill with the coronavirus and support for doctors and nurses fighting to save them, in central Baghdad, Iraq. AP Photo
  • Palestinian Hiba Junaidi poses with one of the stray cats she cares for in her house's backyard, which she had turned into a shelter, near the West Bank city of Hebron. AFP
    Palestinian Hiba Junaidi poses with one of the stray cats she cares for in her house's backyard, which she had turned into a shelter, near the West Bank city of Hebron. AFP
  • An ambulance drives through Jerash, in Jordan. EPA
    An ambulance drives through Jerash, in Jordan. EPA
  • Workers of Egyptian non-governmental organisation Egyptian Food Bank prepare cartons with foodstuffs to distribute to people who lost their jobs in the Egyptian capital Cairo. AFP
    Workers of Egyptian non-governmental organisation Egyptian Food Bank prepare cartons with foodstuffs to distribute to people who lost their jobs in the Egyptian capital Cairo. AFP
  • Egyptian men wearing masks wait outside a centre of non-governmental organisation Egyptian Food Bank to receive cartons with foodstuff in the Egyptian capital Cairo. AFP
    Egyptian men wearing masks wait outside a centre of non-governmental organisation Egyptian Food Bank to receive cartons with foodstuff in the Egyptian capital Cairo. AFP
  • Volunteers disinfect an overcrowded housing complex to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Sale, near Rabat, Morocco. AP Photo
    Volunteers disinfect an overcrowded housing complex to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Sale, near Rabat, Morocco. AP Photo
  • A nurse takes a mucus sample from a suspected coronavirus patient at the Rafik Hariri public hospital in the Lebanese capital Beirut. AFP
    A nurse takes a mucus sample from a suspected coronavirus patient at the Rafik Hariri public hospital in the Lebanese capital Beirut. AFP
  • A Kuwaiti police vehicle is seen at the entrance of Jeleeb Al-Shuyoukh street, south of Kuwait City. EPA
    A Kuwaiti police vehicle is seen at the entrance of Jeleeb Al-Shuyoukh street, south of Kuwait City. EPA
  • A Saudi nurse checks a patient's temperature at a mobile clinic in the Ajyad Almasafi district in the holy city of Makkah. AFP
    A Saudi nurse checks a patient's temperature at a mobile clinic in the Ajyad Almasafi district in the holy city of Makkah. AFP
  • An Afghan health worker stands outside the temporary quarantine camps setup by the Red Crescent to prevent the spread of coronavirus at the entrance to the city, during a lockdown in Kandahar, Afghanistan. EPA
    An Afghan health worker stands outside the temporary quarantine camps setup by the Red Crescent to prevent the spread of coronavirus at the entrance to the city, during a lockdown in Kandahar, Afghanistan. EPA

Iran will use IMF funds for terrorist groups, says US spokeswoman

Tehran warns the international lender not to 'discriminate' against it

The National

April 08, 2020

  • English
  • Arabic

The United States opposes an International Monetary Fund bailout for Iran as it grapples with the worst coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East.

Iran requested assistance from the IMF in March, the first time Tehran has sought aid from the body since before the 1979 revolution despite decades of sanctions.

But US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told BBC Persian that the White House is worried the funds will not go to helping the people of Iran.

"We have made our position clear to the International Monetary Fund that the United States does not believe that any financial assistance to the Iranian regime will reach the Iranian people," Ms Ortagus said. "They will spend that money in their pockets to help their terrorist proxy groups in the Middle East."

Iran's central bank wrote last to the IMF last month to request $5 billion (Dh18.36bn) from its Rapid Financing Initiative, an emergency programme that aids countries faced with sudden shocks such as natural disasters.

There are more than 60,000 confirmed cases in the country and more than 4,000 confirmed deaths.

President Hassan Rouhani pressed harder on Wednesday for the funds, saying the IMF would be guilty of discrimination if it withholds the money.

"I urge international organisations to fulfil their duties ... We are a member of the IMF," Mr Rouhani said at a televised Cabinet meeting. "There should be no discrimination in giving loans."

An IMF official has said the fund is in dialogue with Iran, with talks aimed at understanding Iran's needs and what is required for the loan request to be processed.

The coronavirus outbreak has further damaged Iran's economy, already battered by US sanctions, reimposed since 2018 when Washington exited an agreement to lift them in return for curbs to Iran's nuclear programme.

Tehran has blamed the United States and its "maximum pressure" policy for restricting Iran's ability to respond effectively to the virus.

"The US sanctions on Iran are economic and medical terrorism ... They are in violation of international medical conventions," Mr Rouhani said.

US officials have said that the sanctions do not target medicine for Iran and Washington had offered to help Tehran face the outbreak. Iran has dismissed the offer as ridiculous.

CoronavirusIran