UrduPoint News / Sputnik - Germany, France and the United Kingdom do not oppose the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) loan to Iran, which Tehran needs to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Tuesday, adding at the same time that there is a need to ensure that the funds will be used for their intended purpose

Germany, France and the United Kingdom do not oppose the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) loan to Iran, which Tehran needs to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Tuesday, adding at the same time that there is a need to ensure that the funds will be used for their intended purpose.

In March, Iran, a country among the worst-hit by the pandemic, requested $5 billion in emergency funding from the IMF but received no response. Earlier in April, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources from the White House, that the United States was seeking to prevent the IMF from providing Iran with the loan.

"In fact, the German government is positive about the possibility of providing the IMF loan to Iran to fight coronavirus and its consequences, but the final vote of the German government depends on a format of the loan the IMF and Iran will agree on," Maas said after talks with the foreign ministers of Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Austria and Switzerland.

According to Maas, the IMF should ensure that the money will be spent to overcome the COVID-19 crisis in Iran and not for other purposes.

"If the purpose of the loan is to fight COVID-19, which has seriously affected Iran, then we, along with France and the UK, believe that the IMF should, in an appropriate way, ensure that the aid will be directed at overcoming this crisis," he added.

The number of coronavirus cases in Iran reached 83,505 on Monday with 5,209 fatalities.