Official: US sanctions putting lives of 10k thalassemia patients at risk in Iran

Speaking to Khabaronline news outlet, Younes Arab slammed the medicinal sanctions against Iran as a “crime against humanity, saying the restrictions on importing medicine has sharply increased the death rate among thalassemia patients.

Prior to the sanctions, he said, there were between 10 to 20 deaths among the thalassemia patients per year, but the number reached 150 to 180 when the embargos were imposed.

The US has always claimed the bans do not target the imports of humanitarian supplies in Iran, but the sanctions on Iran’s foreign banking transactions have made it impossible for the country to access critically needed medicine and medical equipment over the past years.

The head of the Iranian Thalassemia Society further said the US, France and Switzerland, which portray themselves as advocates of human rights, have “sanctioned Iran in terms of supplying raw materials, medical devices and medicines.”

At the same time, he said, the country’s economic woes, including inflation and the decline of value of Iran’s national currency, are also dealing a heavy blow to the patients’ power of purchasing medicines.