The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday sent two aid planes carrying medical supplies to Iran which has been severely hit by the coronavirus crisis, despite a fallout between the two countries.
The move came a day after a call between the UAE Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his Iranian counterpart Mohammed Jawad Zarif, according to the media report.
While adding to his condolences for the victims of the pandemic, Al Nahyan discussed with his counterpart the latest regional and global developments resulting from the spread of the virus across the globe.
The UAE Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the two aid aircrafts “contained over 32 metric tonnes of supplies, including boxes filled with thousands of pairs of gloves, surgical masks, and protective equipment”.
Earlier on Monday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak in the country had peaked.
“According to the statistics provided, we have passed the peak stage of the coronavirus,” Rouhani said during a national working group meeting to combat the pandemic.
The death toll due to the COVID-19 outbreak in China has increased to 3,226, authorities said on Tuesday, while the number of confirmed cases in the Asian country has risen to 80,881.
Of the deaths, 12 were in Hubei Province and one in Shaanxi Province, according to the National Health Commission.
On Monday, the fourth batch of 53 Indians returned to India from Iran, taking the total number of people evacuated from the coronavirus-hit Islamic nation to 389.
The overall confirmed cases on the mainland had reached 80,881 by the end of Monday, including 8,976 patients who were still being treated, 68,679 patients who had been discharged after recovery, and 3,226 people who died of the disease.
Iran is one of the worst-affected countries by the coronavirus outbreak and the government has been working to bring back Indians stranded there. Over 700 people have died from the disease in Iran and nearly 14,000 cases have been detected.
Earlier, 76 Indians and 36 foreigners were evacuated from COVID-19 epicentre Wuhan, China and were taken to an ITBP facility in the national capital for quarantine.
The novel Coronavirus outbreak has caused alarm as it has crossed global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic.