medicine sanctions Archives - Iran News Daily

President Urges Hostile Gov’ts to Lift Medicine Sanctions

reporter 1222 — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 18:33:52 +0000

President Urges Hostile Gov’ts to Lift Medicine Sanctions

IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani has urged the hostile governments who have offered to help Iran in the fight against coronavirus to remove the sanctions on the medicine and foodstuff on the first hand if they are honest about assisting the Iranian people.

Addressing a weekly cabinet session on Wednesday, President Rouhani said the governments that have imposed sanctions on the delivery of medicine and foodstuff to Iran and have felt no compunction about harming the Iranian nation over the past two years have now emerged “under the mask of sympathy” and pretend to be interested in helping the people of Iran.

“If you are really telling the truth, you ought to lift at least the medicine sanctions. This is the first step,” the president told the hostile countries offering help in the battle with COVID-19.

“You should say ‘we have been wrong about the Iranian nation so far and have made mistakes and we apologize, and our first step is that the banking activities for the purchase of medicine, transportation of medicine and shipping activities in this regard and the (delivery of) foodstuff for people will be free and we would not take any action against them, and we have lifted this sanction against the people’”, President Rouhani told the governments that have slapped Iran with sanctions.

He further noted that people of Iran are well aware that the enemies are lying.

“I should here thank all of the governments and countries that have assisted us in the fight against this virus, or are ready to help us, have sent equipment, and are again ready to deliver medicine and equipment to our country. I express gratitude to all of them,” the president added.

President Rouhani further lashed out at the “coronavirus market profiteers” who have hoarded medical supplies and respiratory masks.

He then gave an assurance that the Iranian medical society will overcome the current crisis with the “minimum casualties and in the shortest time possible”.

President Rouhani further called on people not to pay attention to the fake news and false statistics for the coronavirus death toll and infection cases, saying the only authentic source to release the news of the disease is the Ministry of Health and Medical Education.

He finally praised the doctors, nurses and medical staff for being at the forefront of the war on COVID-19.

Earlier yesterday Rouhani inaugurated a major project to establish a stand of trees covering an area of 1,290 hectares around the metropolis of Tehran.

The President planted a tree at the Sa’dabad complex in northern Tehran to mark the national Week of Natural Resources and Arbour Day.

He also inaugurated a project to create 1,290 hectares of forest around Tehran as part of the ‘Green Belt Plan’.

Highlighting the significance of afforestation and protection of the environment, the president said a report released by the Municipality of Tehran indicates that the number of tress and forestation projects around the capital have risen by 16.5 times in comparison to the early days after victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

“Paying attention to planting trees as the respiratory airways and lungs of the society could greatly help tackle air pollution,” President Rouhani noted.

He then called for plans to plant fruit trees near the big cities, saying a number of European countries have included fruit trees in the afforestation projects around urban areas, resulting in both visual attraction and fruit production.

The president further noted that the healthcare considerations in the current year have been under the spotlight among the public, saying people have acknowledged after the outbreak of the novel coronavirus that they must attach greater significance to protection of the health of themselves, their children and the other individuals.

“Undoubtedly, one of the affairs that could ensure the health of society is paying attention to the protection of rangelands and planting trees,” he stated.

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Shabnam Nematzadeh sentenced to 20 years of prison

reporter 1222 — Tue, 31 Dec 2019 13:13:31 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Judiciary Spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaeili said that Shabnam Nematzadeh has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for economic corruption.

In a Tuesday press conference, the spokesman said that the court has also sentenced Nematzadeh to 74 lashes and fined with some $345,000 on charges of creating ‘major disruption in the distribution of public goods’.

Shabnam Nematzadeh, along with the other convict Ahmad Reza Lashkaripour, has also been permanently barred from public service.

She was arrested in September on charges of economic corruption in the medical industry. She is the daughter of Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, former minister of industry, mines, and trade.

The spokesman also said that the case of Vice-President Jahangiri’s brother, who has also been charged with corruption, will be sent to the court and proceedings have already begun.

Earlier this year, the president’s brother had been convicted of bribery and corruption, for which he was sentenced to five years in prison. The spokesman said he had previously been sentenced to seven years in prison but his sentence later reduced to five years.

Esmaili also said Fereydoon might face further charges in other cases.

Fereydoon’s case had been ongoing for more than two years after dozens of lawmakers at the Iranian parliament had demanded him to be brought to justice to face financial corruption charges.

The post Shabnam Nematzadeh sentenced to 20 years of prison appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Silence on US sanctions must be broken

reporter 1222 — Sun, 01 Dec 2019 06:30:04 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – International organizations need to speak out and break the silence about US economic sanctions that target Iran’s food and medicine on top of the economy, an Iranian minister has said, warning of the adverse consequences of the embargoes.

“The brave Iranian people are being victimized by plots and economic sanctions that have been imposed by the US administration,” Iran’s Minister of Health and Medical Education Saeed Namaki said in a letter to Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday, Press TV reported.

Iranians, he added, have been the target of the severe restrictions that have badly affected imports of food, medicine, and medical equipment.

The Iranian minister said Washington claims such sanctions do not include medicine, medical equipment, and food, and they are meant to suspend exchanges in international banking systems. However, he argued, the behavior that the White House has adopted only goes in line with its efforts to intentionally stop imports of essential goods for the needy.

The minister emphasized that major obstacles put by the US in the way of Iran’s import of medicine and medical equipment have had a negative impact on the treatment of many Iranian patients.

“By imposing sanctions on the Iranian people, the US has not only committed economic terrorism but in practice, it has carried out a crime against humanity,” Namaki said.

As the main organization in charge of providing universal public health coverage, WHO must not remain indifferent to this important issue, the Iranian minister said.

He added that officials of the United Nations must be held accountable for the adoption of measures in violation of law.

Human Rights Watch said in October that American sanctions against Iran have drastically constrained the country’s ability to pay for humanitarian imports and are threatening the health rights of Iranians.

US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal last year and reimposed sanctions as part of a stated campaign of “maximum pressure” against the Islamic Republic.

Officially, the sanction regime makes exceptions for food, medicine, and other humanitarian goods, but most companies are unwilling to do any trade with Iran for fear of repercussions in the world’s largest economy.

This is while the United States insists that medicines and humanitarian goods are exempt from sanctions. The restrictions on trade have made many banks and companies across the world hesitant to do business with Iran, fearing punitive measures from Washington. The country is cut off from the international banking system.

Official reports say Iran produces some 95% of the basic medicines it needs and even exports some of the production to neighboring countries.

But when it comes to more sophisticated medication and medicines for costly and rare illnesses and medical equipment, Iran depends heavily on imports. And though the state provides health care for all, many treatments needed for complicated cases are simply not available.

In May, the Academy of Medical Sciences of Iran wrote a letter of complaint to the UN in this regard.

In the letter, addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the academy’s President Alireza Marandi mentioned a previously written complaint in condemnation of the “unjust” sanctions.

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