Tehran, April 4 (IANS) The US "cruel and illegal" sanctions against Iran have caused difficulties for ordinary Iranians' access to medicine and medical equipment and services amid the COVID-19 spread, Esmaeil Baqaei Hamaneh, Iran's envoy to the UN office in Geneva, said on Friday.

"The sanctions have blocked Iran's banking interaction with other countries in the purchase of commodities required in the fight against the coronavirus," Baqaei Hamaneh said in a letter to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, Xinhua reported citing the state TV.

"The illegal restrictions are a serious threat to Iran's efforts to battle and contain the virus," he said, stressing the importance of rolling back of the US sanctions against Iran.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday censured the US for maintaining its sanctions against Iran despite the outbreak of COVID-19 across the country.

Over the past weeks, Iran has intensified global campaign for the removal of US sanction as the Islamic republic combats the outbreak of novel coronavirus in the country.

Iran, the worst-hit country by the virus in the Middle East, announced on Friday 53,183 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country and a total deaths of 3,294.

--IANS pgh/