The unilateral sanctions by the United States on countries like Iran, Syria and Yemen hamper global efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran's envoy to the United Nations, was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency on Friday.

"These unilateral sanctions effectively target patients the most, and show how immoral, inhumane, and illegitimate these sanctions are," Takht-Ravanchi said on Thursday at a UN Security Council meeting.

The novel coronavirus is the "common enemy of mankind," Takht-Ravanchi said, adding that the only way to combat the pandemic is through global cooperation.

"Lift of U.S. sanctions is necessary to counter the spread of the disease in the sanctions-hit countries as well as across the world," he noted.

Iran has said that the U.S. sanctions against the Islamic republic have affected the imports of medical equipment to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.