Human Rights Official:

US Obstructing Medications Imports into Iran

Head of the Judiciary's High Council for Human Rights Ali Baqeri Kani, in a meeting with United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, rebuked the US for preventing medical exports to Iran, describing Washington’s anti-Tehran sanctions as barbaric and uncivilized.

News ID: 449348

Date: 29 February 2020 - 10:26

RNA - Iranian nation's domestic progress has angered the Americans and that's for the same reason that the imposed barbaric sanctions on the nations, as they blocked exports of medicines to Iran, intending to deny Iran the right to live, in addition to the right to make progress, Baqeri Kani said, in a Wednesday meeting with Bache

He added that Islamic Republic of Iran's policies are based on upholding human rights and ensuring the Iranian nation's rights.

Lambasting European states claiming violation of human rights in Iran, he said that European government sponsoring human rights resolution against Iran in Human Rights Council is an accomplice to Saudi Arabia in killing Yemeni children on the one hand and partner to the US in killing Iranian innocent children by preventing exports of medicines.

Michelle Bachelet, for her part, described anti-Iran sanctions as inhumane and unacceptable, saying that United Nations High Commission for Human Rights is the only institute that has adopted stance against sanctions.

Condemning assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, she said that politicization of human rights is a bitter reality that cannot be denied.

At the end of the meeting a petition signed by thousands of people of Tehran on the sidelines of the February 11 rallies in condemnation of US crime in assassinating General Soleimani and prosecution of the perpetrators was submitted to the UN official to pass to UN secretary general and other relevant authorities.

On Monday, Baqeri Kani had denounced Washington’s unilateral sanctions which are obstructing his nation’s access to foreign-made medications and food, challenging Washington’s membership in the UN Human Rights Council (HRC).

While addressing the 43rd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, Baqeri Kani described the unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran as the “most recent grave and systematic violation of human rights.”

Emphasizing that “the Iranian nation is the major victim of such a violation,” Baqeri Kani said, “The United States has created an international sanction regime which amounts to a systematic violation of human rights at an international level.”

“This new policy in practice has prevented the access to medicine and basic needs by those who are in need,” the Iranian rights official said, adding, “Those who impose sanctions on medicine are not only violators of human rights but also murderers of human beings. And those who impose sanctions on life-saving medicine are not eligible to be a member of the Human Rights Council.”

Refuting US claims that its anti-Iran sanctions do not cover supply of medicine, the official said, “Although the US claims that basic needs such as pharmaceutical and commodities are not sanctioned, access to the most basic human needs are blocked due to the sanctions imposed on international financial transactions and banking.”

Baqeri Kani slammed US allies and some other countries for following the US sanctions policy against Iran and said, “To preserve their political and economic benefits, many states that may not approve such sanctions, not only have failed to oppose such inhuman treatment, but also supported these policies by succumbing to them.”

The US returned its sanctions against Iran in 2018 after leaving a historic nuclear accord -- officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) -- signed between Iran and major world powers. The measures defied the agreement’s multilateral nature and the fact that it had been ratified by the United Nations Security Council.

Washington then began forcing other parties to toe its sanctions line. The three European signatories to the deal -- Britain, France, and Germany -- have stopped their transactions with the Islamic Republic, bowing under the pressure.

Switzerland late in January launched the so-called Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA), claiming it was aimed at facilitating the medicine trade, reportedly using the Central Bank of Iran's credits. Swiss officials have, however, refused to clarify how such transactions would continue if the CBI ran out of credit with Swiss banks.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi on February 3 dismissed as insufficient the Swiss-US “humanitarian” channel, arguing that the United States is originally banned by the International Court of Justice from subjecting Iran’s much-needed medical supplies to sanctions.

“We do not recognize any such so-called humanitarian channel. We do not recognize sanctions [for that matter]. Medicine and foodstuffs were never subject to sanctions in the first place so they can now create a channel [for their transfer] with much publicity,” he added.

An NGO reported in November 2019 that Iranian children suffering from a rare skin condition known as EB are losing their lives as US economic sanctions hamper the flow of vital medical products.

Hamid Reza Hashemi Golayegani, the head of the NGO that helps such patients, said that at least 15 Iranian children with epidermolysis bullosa (EB) have died since the US launched its new sanctions on Iran in August.

In November, Iranian Health Minister Saeed Namaki, in a letter to Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reminded that the US is obstructing the import of medications for patients of his country, adding that the WHO and the United Nations (UN) are responsible to adopt a measure against Washington’s inhumane moves.

In May, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani deplored the US for imposing sanctions against his country which leave negative impacts on the ordinary people, describing them as "crime against humanity".

“The hard days and problems created by the US economic war have started,” President Rouhani said in Tehran, addressing a group of Iranian lawyers.

The Iranian president described the war as a “crime against humanity”, saying that sanctions have created troubles for the people’s livelihood and made it more difficult for them to access food and medication.

“This is not a war against the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, but a war against the Iranian nation,” he said.

President Rouhani had in March called on the Judiciary Branch of the country to file a lawsuit against American officials for imposing medicine and food bans on the Iranian nation.

“We should resist to make the United States understand that it is going the wrong direction,” Rouhani said, stressing, “The judiciary should sue US authorities and the architects of the sanctions regime for crimes against humanity.”

Referring to the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the JCPOA, he said, “of course, except for a couple of countries, the entire world denounced this move by the US, acknowledging our cooperation with the Security Council and the United Nations.”

“Americans keep saying that they have been tricked into the nuclear deal, but this is wrong and both sides enjoyed the benefits of the deal, and nobody was tricked,” he said.

“The path we have taken is right and we will continue that. From the first day of this government, I announced that we were seeking to cooperate with the whole world, and we were going to respect anyone who treated us with respect,” said Rouhani.

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