Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency says that the country’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has spoken over the phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Tuesday’s report says the two discussed bilateral cooperation on fighting the coronavirus pandemic, and that during the phone call, Rouhani thanked the Japanese government for its humanitarian assistance to Iran on combating the virus.

Rouhani was quoted as saying that with the “escalation of the United States’ cruel and inhumane sanctions against Iran,” the country faces “many problems today, even in the field of medical equipment and food supply.”

Iran, which has been the hardest-hit country in the Middle East in the pandemic, says its death toll rose to over 6,300 after 63 more people died on Monday. The Health Ministry’s spokesman, Kianoush Jahanpour, says Iran has so far confirmed nearly 100,000 cases.

AP