Despite the intention of the recent U.S. and E.U. economic
sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran over its nuclear program, it
has led to the suffering and agony of the civilian population and the public
services. The recent news and events on the shortage of medicine and its
victims in Iran have raised a red flag to the rethinking the sanctions and their
impacts which lead to human rights violation.
Although the sanctions do not directly impose any bans on
the exports of medicines to Iran, their economic boycotts and the aftermaths
have created circumstances resulted in the shortage or, in some cases, lack of
medicines. The economy of Iran is dominated by the exports of its oil and gas
production. The finances consequently generated are used to supply food,
medicines, and other services. The blockade on the gas and oil exports as a
result of the sanctions has interfered with Iran's currency and banking, and
hence, affected Iran's medicine supply. Furthermore, the U.S. Department of the
Treasury has imposed a regulation which inquires the firms to apply for a
licence from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in order to export and
sell medicines to Iran.
In addition to the international ignorance to the current
severe situation of the medicine shortage, the Iranian authorities and their
media misinform the public by their false information. Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi,
the former Iran's Minister of Health, claims that the current sanctions have
provided the opportunity for Iran to domesticate the majority of its production
of the required medicines. Yet, the increasing number of the reports from the
challenges the patients suffering from chronic diseases, such as, hemophilia,
cancer, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis, are confronted due to the shortage of
their required medicines is an indication of the significance of the situation
for further investigations.
Consequently, the impact of all these is the rising number of
the events where the patients' conditions worsen, or in some cases they lose
their lives. The recent news of the death of the teenage Iranian boy suffering
from haemophilia caught the
attention of the international community; however, unfortunately, nothing has
been done to minimize the impact of this devastating situation. Once again, the
world has closed its eyes to the inhumane condition that is unfolding in front it.
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