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Zarif: Iran medical societies write to UN in condemnation of US bans

Thursday, 07 March 2019 11:02 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 07 March 2019 11:30 AM ]

An Iranian man works at a drugstore at the Nikan hospital in Tehran on September 11, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

Sixty-six Iranian scientific medical societies have written to the UN chief in condemnation of the “inhumane and medieval” American sanctions targeting Iran’s health sector.

In a post on his Twitter account on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif released the letter, which had been written to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on February 23.

66 Scientific Societies for Medical Sciences in Iran call on int'l community to:

-condemn US sanctions on Iran;
-strongly resist the targeting of medical needs & humanitarian aid; and
-thwart targeting of research & scientific advancement.

Their letter to UNSG @antonioguterres: pic.twitter.com/3X77yn1Bqq
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) March 6, 2019

Scholars, scientists and academics of 66 Iranian scientific societies highlighted that the unilateral US bans have “deliberately targeted” patients, healthcare sectors, academic research centers, healthcare providers, medical equipment suppliers, active pharmaceutical ingredients providers, pharmaceutical equipment suppliers and heath regulators.

The sanctions, they added, have led to “extensive shortages of life-saving medical supplies and drugs.”

“This politicization of science and imposition of discriminatory regulations against Iranian scientists and academia is unprecedented an unwarranted,” they said.

The scientific societies also urged the international community to “condemn US embargoes” on Iran and “act strongly against sanctions targeting medical needs, humanitarian aids and research advancement.”

They further called on the scientific community to “refrain from actions that affect the principal rights of a nation” and take necessary measures to “lift these coercive and unmanly sanctions.”

“Conscious ignorance of the scientific community to unmanly unilateral sanctions will deprive not only Iran but also the entire world from scientific achievements of humanity,” they noted.

Last year, President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, officially named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and unleashed the “toughest ever” sanctions against Tehran.

PressTV-US killing Iranian patients with sanctions, CNN confirms

Iranian patients are paying the price of US-imposed sanctions on Iran, when it comes to buying medicine in terms of availability and prices, CNN reports.

Officially, the sanctions exempt humanitarian goods, such as medicine and medicinal instruments.

But in reality, the measures have restricted Iran's access to medical and health services.

Last November, the Islamic Republic of Iran Medical Council (IRIMC) said illegal economic sanctions have negative impacts on the country’s health sector.

Read more:

'US sanctions restrict Iran's access to medicine'

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) - the principal judicial organ of the United Nations – also ordered the US in October 2018 to halt the unilateral sanctions it had re-imposed on "humanitarian" supplies to Iran.

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