Khamenei calls US most evil enemy; says Covid-19 help offer ‘weird’

Tehran, March 22 (IANS): Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday called the US “the most evil enemy of the Iranian nation”, saying Washington’s offer to help the Islamic nation to fight the coronavirus outbreak was “weird”.

“Today, we have no less of enemies but the most evil enemy of the Iranian nation is America,” the Tehran-based Press TV quoted Khamenei as saying in a televised address to the nation.

“Americans have said several times that ‘we are ready to help with treatment and medicine; just ask us and we will help’. This is one of the weirdest things which they tell us to ask them,” he said.

Khamenei said the US officials have continuously sent messages to Iran about their offer, but Tehran did not accept it since the country “does not trust” them. While the US has refused to lift the sanctions it imposed on Iran, President Donald Trump has said that “all they have to do is ask” for help to deal with the pandemic. Meanwhile, Iranian health authorities have said that the coronavirus pandemic in the country, one of the worst-hit in the Middle Eastern region, was showing signs of slowing down although the overall number of cases has now reached 20,610.

On Saturday, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education said that the death toll from the novel coronavirus increased to 1,556, while the number of cured people rose to 7,635, reports Xinhua news agency.