EU to provide 20 million euros in humanitarian aid to Iran

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will send 20 million euros in humanitarian aid to Iran, which is subject to U.S. sanctions, to help alleviate the coronavirus, and will also support Tehran's request for IMF financial help, the EU's top diplomat said.

"We've not been able to provide a lot of humanitarian help but there is some 20 million euros in the pipeline ... that we expect to be delivered over the next weeks," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a video news conference on Monday.

"We also agree in supporting the request by Iran and also by Venezuela to the International Monetary Fund to have financial support," he said after a video conference of EU foreign ministers, although he did not give more details.

Iran is the Middle Eastern nation worst hit by coronavirus, with over 1,800 deaths and 23,049 infected people. One person is dying from the virus every 10 minutes, according to the healthministry.

(Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Catherine Evans)