IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

Medical sanctions by the United States government against the Islamic Republic amount to an “unprecedented threat” to global public health, says a senior Iranian diplomat, urging the international community to react in earnest to Washington’s restrictions amid the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

In a letter to Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday, Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN office in Geneva Esmaeil Baqaei Hamaneh said imposition of the cruel and illegal sanctions on Iran, which has resulted in the ordinary Iranian people being denied access to medicine and medical equipment and services, clearly exemplifies a crime against humanity.

He added that the sanctions have blocked Iran’s banking interaction with other countries in order to buy commodities required in the fight against the coronavirus and warned that the illegal restrictions are a serious threat to Tehran’s efforts to battle and contain the virus.

The Iranian envoy stressed the importance of rolling back international sanctions regimes around the world as emphasized by United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

In a letter to the G-20 economic powers, Guterres said the sanctions are heightening the health risks for millions of people and weakening the global containment endeavor.

“I am encouraging the waiving of sanctions imposed on countries to ensure access to food, essential health supplies, and COVID-19 medical support. This is the time for solidarity not exclusion,” the UN chief wrote.

“Let us remember that we are only as strong as the weakest health system in our interconnected world.”

Elsewhere in his letter, Baqaei Hamaneh said the intensification of US economic and banking restrictions on Iran amidst the pandemic runs counter to international regulations, adding that the White House shoulders an international responsibility in this regard.

The United States has refused to lift sanctions on Iran and even tightened them several times in recent weeks, making it almost impossible for the Islamic Republic to access life-saving medications and medical equipment.

Iran says the unilateral US sanctions have seriously hampered its fight against the pandemic.

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According To Iran News, Iran’s ambassador to China, in a tweet, announced that two health and medical aid consignments will be sent to Iran from Beijing on Saturday night.

“Tonight, two flights from Beijing will transport the country’s anti-coronavirus consignments to Iran,” Mohammad Keshavarz-zadeh wrote.

“Up to the present, Chinese government and nation have sent their aid via 28 flights from Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing to Iran,” he added.

“Iran has received more than 10 million face masks, 500,000 coronavirus test-kits, 300,000 hospital gowns, 2.2 million gloves, 350 ventilator systems, 500 prefabricated patient rooms and various types of medicine and medical equipment.”

“Some flights have also transported the humanitarian aid cargoes donated by Chinese business magnate Jack Ma, including one million facial masks to Iran,” the ambassador noted.

The two countries of Iran and China are to expand and broaden their bilateral cooperation in the field of fighting coroanvirus, also known as COVID-19.

China is of the countries that has always called for lifting US cruel and inhumane sanctions imposed against Iran.

Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, was detected in Wuhan city in central China in December. This disease was first called pneumonia but the China’s National Health Commission announced the outbreak of COVID-19 officially in Dec. 30, 2019.

Iran’s Health Ministry Spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on Saturday that the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in Iran has risen to 3,452 with 55,743 confirmed cases.

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According To Iran News, Turkey has dispatched a cargo of medical supplies to Iran to help the country combat the outbreak of the new coronavirus based on an agreement reached between the two countries.

The medical supplies were dispatched from Turkey after an agreement was signed between Iranian Ambassador to Ankara Mohammad Farazmand and the Turkish deputy minister of trade.

The cargo includes 1,000 coronavirus test kits, 4,715 protective gowns, 2,000 hospital aprons, 78,000 three-layer masks, 2,400 protective glasses, and 1,000 N95 masks.

Turkey is seeking to send medical and pharmaceutical supplies to 85 other countries as well, according to the deputy trade minister.

Medical staffs in all 31 provinces of Iran have been working tirelessly over the past weeks to contain the novel coronavirus.

First detected in Wuhan city in central China in December, the virus has spread to more than 140 countries.

More than 182,000 have been infected globally, according to the WHO. Of those, about 80,000 have recovered.

The spokesman for the Iranian Health Ministry said on Tuesday that since the outbreak of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country, 988 people have lost their lives and 5,389 others have completely recovered from the infectious disease.

Kianoush Jahanpour said that since yesterday noon, the total number of coronavirus cases in the country has increased by 1,178, reaching 16,169.

Over the past 24 hours, 125 patients have lost their lives, the spokesman said, adding that the death toll from the new coronavirus epidemic in the country has risen to 988.

Fortunately, 5,389 patients infected with the COVID-19 have recovered and have been discharged from the hospital so far, he said.

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According To Iran News, Head of Iranian Parliament’s National Interests and Diplomacy Faction Mostafa Kavakebian in a letter penned to a US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar on Sun. said that US sanctions have hampered access of Iranian people to the pharmaceutical and medical needs.

In the letter, Kavakebian added, “as you are informed, the novel coronavirus has become a pandemic which has jeopardized health condition of all people in many countries including Islamic Republic of Iran. In addition to taking the lives of innocent people, the spread of the virus has cost dearly for national economy of countries.”

“Since this issue has become clear that coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, is a serious threat to the health of all people and has affected the whole human community without restrains, it is necessary that all countries stand together in the fight against this deadly virus regardless of political disputes and geographical differences,” he added.

In this regard, all countries in the world should cooperate with each other in reducing the destructive economic and social effects of the disease, he emphasized.

As Iranian people are grappling with the disease and require international support in the fight against coronavirus, it is a matter of regret to say that the US government has embarked on exerting the toughest economic sanctions against Islamic Republic of Iran, member of parliament stressed.

“Not only have the US hostile moves taken against Iran led to worsening the current situation, but also these sanctions have hampered access of Iranian people to the pharmaceutical and medical supplies,” he said.

He further advised the US government to abandon its cruel and unjust approaches that have targeted health of Iranian people.

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According To Iran News, Iran’s Judiciary Chief Hojatoleslam Ebrahim Raeisi ordered severe punishment for hoarding pharmaceutical and health products as Iranian organizations and government bodies are heavily engaged in efforts to contain the novel coronavirus outbreak.

In comments at a Monday meeting of the Supreme Judicial Council, the top Iranian judge ordered prosecutors across the country to mete out a harsh punishment against those hoarding healthcare products and medicine.

The health of people would never be up for bargain, Raeisi stressed, adding that hoarding medical commodities in the current circumstances is playing with the lives of people and could not be forgiven by any means.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Judiciary chief thanked the judicial officials for permitting the eligible prisoners to get furlough.

Last week, Raeisi ordered courts across the country to grant eligible prisoners leave for the new Iranian year’s holidays (March 20-April 3), as a precautionary measure to contain the coronavirus.

The Judiciary chief noted that prison furlough would help achieve the goals of “moral and social rehabilitation” of the inmates and is also necessary to protect the health of prisoners under the current circumstance following the outbreak of coronavirus in the country.

The death toll from the novel coronavirus epidemic in Iran rose to 54 on Sunday, and the total number of confirmed cases of infection reached 978.

The novel coronavirus has killed more than 3,000 people worldwide, the vast majority in mainland China. There have been more than 85,000 global cases, with infections on every continent except Antarctica.

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IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – The head of the Iranian Judiciary’s High Council for Human Rights says countries imposing sanctions on supply of medicine to Iran are “murderers of human beings” and lack qualification to be members of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC).

Ali Baqeri-Kani made the remarks while addressing the 43rd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday, where he 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 U.S. claims that its anti-Iran sanctions do not cover supply of medicine, the official said, “Although the U.S. 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 U.S. allies and some other countries for following the U.S. 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.”

“These acts are not only the collective punishment of a nation, but also a modern method of violation of human rights, which should be put high on the agenda of the Human Rights Council,” he added.

The U.S. 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.

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.

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“Currently, a total of 280,000 medical equipment is produced in the country,” Fars quoted Masaeli as saying.

“In recent years, the production of medical equipment in Iran has increased by 9 percent,” he added.

One of the main strategies of the Health Ministry is to boost exports, he said, adding that Iran exports medical equipment to 55 countries including Russia, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Croatia.

So far, a series of memorandums of understanding (MOUs) have been signed for export of medical equipment to various countries, including Brazil, Iraq and Oman, Masaeli stated.

He further said the ministry’s medical equipment department has signed an MOU with Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization to grant subsidies to Iranian medical equipment companies participating at international trade fairs such as MEDICA, Oman Health, Arab Health and Brazil.

He said the ministry expects the Iranian ambassadors to help promote the export of homegrown medical equipment to the country they are serving.

Informing the Health Ministry about tenders and opportunities for export of medical equipment to other countries, identifying and introducing the most important events in the health sector in foreign countries (specialized fairs and congresses), and facilitating the presence of Iranian companies in those events are among the expectations of the ministry from diplomats, Masaeli concluded.

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