ISLAMABAD, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday called for lifting of economic sanctions on Iran to help the country better fight the COVID-19.

Iran is among the countries which have been severely hit by the outbreak of the COVID-19.

"I reiterate call from Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan for lifting sanctions on Iran. Coronavirus is rapidly causing deaths in Iran. We request immediate lifting of sanction," Qureshi said in a statement.

"This is a humanitarian issue. Our thousands of Pakistani pilgrims are also stuck up in Iran and they will also return," the foreign minister said.

Meanwhile, Qureshi said on Twitter that as the international community is fighting the COVID-19, it is time for the world leaders to show solidarity towards each other and lift sanctions on Iran.

"The entire global community is fighting an unprecedented pandemic. We must, as leaders at time of such great challenge and difficulty, show utmost compassion. Sanctions must be lifted against Iran, in this moment of peril so that it can use its resources to save precious human lives," he tweeted.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday said U.S. "unlawful" anti-Iran sanctions have impaired its ability to combat the COVID-19 outbreak.

"Unlawful U.S. sanctions (have) drained Iran's economic resources, impairing its ability to fight the COVID-19," Zarif said on Twitter.

Talking about safety measures in Pakistan to fight the COVID-19, the Pakistani minister said a large quarantine center has been established in the city of Multan in Punjab province to keep pilgrims returning from Iran in isolation for a certain period.

He said the quarantine center has 3,000 rooms and a total of 1,247 pilgrims, who returned from Iran, have been shifted to this quarantine, and every pilgrim is kept in a separate room. Enditem

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