A couple wearing masks are seen in downtown Tehran, Iran, Feb. 23, 2020. (Photo by Ahmad Halabisaz/Xinhua)

The Iranian Embassy in China is publicly raising funds on Chinese social media amid urgent material shortages in the country due to the tough COVID-19 epidemic, which has infected nearly 3,000 Iranians with 92 fatalities as of Wednesday evening.  

The embassy released a post on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo on Wednesday, saying that Iran is in urgent need of materials like masks, respirators and viral testing kits.

Chinese netizens have been contacting the Iranian embassy and asking about how to donate money, which has moved the embassy, read the post.

The embassy posted contact numbers and QR codes of their WeChat and Alipay accounts, while some netizens commented with screenshots of transfer information under the embassy's post.

Others said they have delivered masks to the embassy.      

"The virus is a mutual enemy of the whole world, hope Iran can overcome it soon! Keep it up!" read a typical comment on Weibo. 

The novel coronavirus shows a comparatively high fatality rate in Iran and, unlike the situation in other countries, it has even hit high-level officials in the country.

COVID-19 victims in Iran include some national senior officials, and unfortunately several have died including Mohammad Mirmohammadi, member of a top council that advises Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and Hadi Khosroshahi, a senior cleric and the former ambassador to the Vatican, according to media reports. 

China has sent a volunteer group of five health experts to Iran on Friday, carrying medical supplies to support Iran's prevention and control efforts against COVID-19.  

Many Chinese netizens criticized US sanctions on Iran's cross-border logistics trade and financial settlement system, which have prevented Iran from officially importing medical supplies from other countries.

People living in Iran told the Global Times that the situation has not improved, and the pressure has not abated even though the US announced a sanctions waiver last week to allow humanitarian aid to Iran.

Global Times