Covid-19, Iranian students send medicine and aid to the American people

The cargo includes drugs and equipment to be used in the fight against the pandemic. Basij members provide the material. Last month the young people produced up to 200 thousand masks and thousands of liters of disinfectant. Help to be given to the poorest Americans without health coverage.

Tehran (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Groups of Iranian students have sent a load of medical and health supplies to the US people, to counter the rapid spread of the new coronavirus pandemic that has also affected over 210,000 people in the US.

The material, which includes equipment and specific drugs for the fight against Covid-19, is supplied by the university students of the Islamic Republic who are members of Basij, the so-called "volunteers of the revolution".

The collected goods, to be distributed to the poorest part of the US population without medical insurance or health coverage, were crammed into two trucks and delivered to the Swiss embassy, ​​which represents the interests of the United States in Iran. University students from the Basij of various provinces of the country have joined the initiative, engaged since the first days of the epidemic in the production of masks and other health products.

Interviewed by the semi-official Fars agency, student representative Ali Kian confirmed that the material was delivered on March 31 to the embassy in conjunction with the national holiday in Iran. Last month, the university students contributed to the production of sanitary articles, to meet the huge requests related to the pandemic, making up to 200 thousand masks and thousands of liters of disinfectant.

Kian says the material will be "distributed to hospitals and the population, especially in the poorest areas of the country". When we saw the "painful conditions" of the most "vulnerable" fringe of the Americans, the decision was taken to "donate part of the internal production of medical supplies", in particular to those who gravitate around "the New York area".

The youth also sent a letter to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, calling for a renewed diplomatic effort to ensure that the cargo reaches its destination and is distributed to the population. It contains various types of masks, disinfectants, visors, gowns and sanitary towels. The cargo, Kian concludes, "has been properly sterilized and also contains a humanitarian message" to the US people.

Iran is the nation most affected in the Middle East by the new coronavirus epidemic, with almost 48 thousand infections, over 3 thousand victims and 15 thousand people recovered. Some observers say, however, that the data are underestimated and the real toll is far greater. The United States is the country with the highest number of cases in the world according to the latest updated estimates, at least 216,721; there have been 5 thousand deaths and just over 8600 recoveries.

Appeals to the White House have recently been repeated to ease the policy of head-on confrontation with sanctions against Iran, which also end up causing blockages and restrictions in sending medicines and basic necessities to the Islamic Republic. To stem the sanctions, in recent days three European nations have used the Instex system for the first time in sending aid.