Sick Of Sanctions

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/12/sick-of-sanctions.html

September 12, 2012

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But in the last few months, sanctions began hitting the Iranian population in an unparalleled manner. Unlike economic hardship that endured for decades, which some may have blamed on regime mismanagement, recent pain visited on Iranians can safely be laid at the U.S.'s doorstep.

Financial sanctions imposed by the U.S. and other nations severely hinder purchase vital medicines by hospitals and pharmacies. Food and medicine are technically exempt from sanctions, but due to sanctions that cut off of Iranian banks from the international financial system, Iranian hospitals cannot pay for these humanitarian goods.

The Washington Post recently reported that medicine shortages are particularly "felt by cancer patients and those being treated for complex disorders such as hemophilia, multiple sclerosis and thalassemia, as well as transplant and kidney dialysis patients, none of whom can afford interruptions or delays in medical supplies." 

According to Professor Muhammad Sahimi, a prominent Iran expert with contacts in Iran's pharmaceutical industry, the "shortage of drugs will soon become a catastrophe if not addressed."

Iranians see the chasm between promised "targeted" sanctions and those that case a wider net: “This is a blatant hostage-taking of the most vulnerable people by countries which claim they care about human rights,” said Ahmad Ghavidel, head of the Iranian Hemophilia Society, in the Washington Post story.