As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to spread, one grave injustice that needs to be corrected is the imposition of unilateral American sanctions on Iran. The latter so far has seen 18,407 COVID-19 infections and 1,284 deaths from the disease. Many of these could have been prevented if trade with Iran hadn’t been sanctioned and Tehran could have accessed its own resources. For, the sanctions have made Iran’s medical efforts doubly complicated by hampering the supply of critical medicines and medical equipments. This is unconscionable not just because the pandemic can only be stopped through international cooperation, but also because Iran did not deserve this.
As is well reported, the US unilaterally pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on the Islamic Republic despite Tehran following every stipulation asked of it. It was a patently unfair and illegal move by the Donald Trump administration that effectively imposed an economic genocide on the Iranian people. US secondary sanctions made it extremely difficult for any country or foreign entity to deal with Iran. Even the Swiss humanitarian channel that has been set up to transfer humanitarian aid to Iran is burdened by so many conditions — whoever wants to use it has to get written clearances from the US — that it is practically unworkable.
In such a scenario, Iran is literally fighting the pandemic with one hand tied behind its back. And if the number of cases spikes dramatically in Iran, the US sanctions will be the biggest reason. International cooperation has to be the backbone of the global response against the Coronavirus. And no country or territory, be it Iran, Taiwan or North Korea, should be left out of the loop. After all, viruses don’t recognise international borders. In a pandemic, what happens in one part of the world impacts other parts of the world. That the US is unwilling to ease sanctions on Iran even in these unprecedented trying times is despicable.
Iran needs to be supported to fight the pandemic. There is a time and place for politics. But this is not it. The future of humanity is at stake here. In the face of the Coronavirus, we are all one people of this planet. Our Iranian brothers and sisters can’t be left behind in the present danger. Again, Iran has to be supported to fight the pandemic no matter what. We are all in this together.
DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.
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Talking Turkey
A repository of no-frills analyses of the day's hot-button issues in foreign affairs, sports and society.
AUTHOR
Rudroneel Ghosh
I am a Delhi-based journalist working for the Edit Page of The Times of India.
