US scaring off humanitarian aid to Iran, analyst says

A senior analyst has dismissed claims coming out of the White House that it is willing to help Iran fight the coronavirus outbreak, saying Washington is actually trying to block efforts by other countries to deliver medicine and medical equipment to the Islamic Republic.

News ID: 449728

Date: 24 March 2020 - 12:38

RNA - Jarrett Blanc, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the Bloomberg on Monday that unlike previous US administrations that tried to ease sanctions on Iran when it came to humanitarian issues, the government has made it even harder for others to trade with the country.

“This administration has done the opposite by scaring off humanitarian aid,” said Blanc, a former State Department coordinator for coordinating policies on Iran nuclear program.

“The messaging they’re sending is that there’s no way you can do the proper due diligence for something like this,” he said.

Trump and his senior aides have repeatedly claimed that there are sufficient number of exemptions from the sanctions that would allow trade of humanitarian data-x-items with Iran.

The claims have been dismissed by both Iran and other countries around the world as they insist Washington should immediately lift its illegal and unilateral sanctions to allow Tehran obtain the required protective gear, drugs and equipment needed to fight coronavirus.

Blanc said that Trump’s predecessor Barak Obama, whose government was part of international sanctions on Iran, normally sent representatives to other parts of the world to make sure that humanitarian trade with Tehran would flow smoothly despite the bans.

“The US has to do a lot of work to make sure institutions understand it’s safe, otherwise no one wants to touch it,” he said.

More than 23,000 people have been infected with coronavirus in Iran since it was spotted in the country last month.

The death toll from the disease has exceeded 1,800 while the number of recovered patients is nearly 8,400.

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