(Bloomberg) --

The Trump administration plans to block Iran’s request for a $5 billion International Monetary Fund loan to fight the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that the regime has plenty of money and wouldn’t qualify for the loan regardless, according to a senior administration official.

The official, who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations, said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has billions of dollars stashed away which could be tapped. The Trump administration has also pointed to remarks by President Hassan Rouhani that U.S. sanctions haven’t prevented Iran -- one of the worst hits nations in the pandemic -- from getting the medicine it needs.

Still, Rouhani’s message has been contradictory: in a cabinet meeting shown on state TV, Rouhani accused the U.S. of engaging in “medical terrorism” because of its sanctions on Iran’s economy and urged the international community to support its bid for financial support from the IMF.

The U.S. stance was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

According to the U.S. official, the Trump administration’s attitude toward the loan is secondary to the fact that Iran wouldn’t meet IMF standards for transparency.

Iran has had about 65,000 reported cases of Covid-19 and approximately 4,000 reported deaths, according to data published by Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.