Iran’s Health Minister: US Sanctions against Health Sector Crime against Humanity

By Staff, Agencies

Iran's Minister of Health Saeed Namaki said the sanctions imposed by the United States against Iran's health sector amount to crime against humanity.

The Iranian minister made the remarks in a joint press conference with his Lebanese counterpart, Jamil Jabak, in Tehran on Monday, saying, “Measures taken by the US administration in banning [access to] medicines needed by Iranian patients and pressures mounted by Washington on Iran's health sector amount to crime against humanity.”

Last year, US 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.

Officially, the sanctions exempt humanitarian goods, such as medicine and medicinal instruments. But in reality, the measures 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.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Namaki said imposing sanctions on health and medical sector of any country is illogical and inhumane, emphasizing, however, that “at the present time, we produce 97 of medicines needed by [Iranian] patients inside the country and we are facing problems for the supply of only three percent of medications.”

“Despite the US pressures, medicines needed by all patients have been supplied. We are also planning, in cooperation with Iranian knowledge-based companies and young scientists, to meet all our medical needs within the country in coming years and become needless of imports,” Namaki added.

He further stated that there is enough raw materials for producing medicines inside the country and Iran does not rely on other countries in this regard.

The Lebanese minister, for his part, said his country is eager to import medicines from Iran and promised to facilitate the process of imports for the Lebanese private companies.

Jabak said, “We consider sanctions against Iran unjust and stop at no limits in cooperation with Iran.”

Jabak emphasized that “if sanctions bar Iranian people's access to medicines and foodstuff, they would be crime against humanity and would be faced with widespread global opposition.”