China to continue assisting Iran against coronavirus

ANKARA

China will continue to provide "as much assistance as it can" to Iran to curb the coronavirus outbreak, the country’s president said Saturday.

Xi Jinping said China offered Iran a batch of anti-epidemic supplies and sent a team of voluntary health experts to Iran, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Xi said he is confident that Iran "will surely win the battle" against the virus, adding that his country stands ready to step up cooperation with Iran to contain the epidemic.

Iran is one of the worst-hit countries from coronavirus with more than 600 deaths and 11,000 cases confirmed.

The country battered economically has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $5 billion emergency funding to deal with the pandemic.

After emerging in China last December, the novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to 135 countries and territories.

The global death toll from the virus has crossed 5,300 with more than 142,000 cases confirmed worldwide, according to the World Health Organization, which has termed Europe as the new epicenter of the virus.

A vast majority of those who get infected recover from the illness.