Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has renewed calls for the US to suspend sanctions against Iran, as the country's crippled health-care system struggles to deal with the rapid spread of the coronavirus.  

"We need to suspend these sanctions before more lives are lost," Omar said via Twitter on Friday, retweeting an earlier post made by well known Iranian-American activist Hoda Katebi.

According to Iranian authorities, there have been more than 11,000 cases of the coronavirus - offically known as Covid-19 - and at least 514 deaths, making the Islamic Republic one of the countries worst hit by the virus.

Katebi said her aunt, who is a doctor in Iran, had reported "massive" shortages of medical supplies, including face masks, as the country struggles to deal with the spread of the disease. 

"She keeps giving her face mask to other docs bc there aren't enough for everyone. For the love of GOD we need to end sanctions on Iran NOW," Katebi said on Twitter.

The situation in Iran is expected to worsen as Friday saw the biggest single-day jump in cases since the virus  was detected there. 

The outbreak has prompted authorities to temporarily release about 70,000 prisoners to contain the spread of the illness, which has now reached all of Iran's cities. 

Later on Friday, Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif announced he had sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, asking the international community to "disregard inhuman US sanctions".