US Sanctions Block Medical Shipments To Iran Despite Humanitarian Exemptions- Rights Group

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th October, 2019) The health of Iranian civilians is being threatened by US sanctions, which are blocking shipments of medicine to the Islamic republic despite exemptions for humanitarian supplies, Human Rights Watch said in a report on Tuesday.

"The 47-page report, 'Maximum Pressure: US Economic Sanctions Harm Iranians' Right to Health,' documents how broad restrictions on financial transactions, coupled with aggressive rhetoric from United States officials, have drastically constrained the ability of Iranian entities to finance humanitarian imports, including vital medicines and medical equipment," the report said.

While the US government has built exemptions for humanitarian imports into its sanctions regime, the report claimed that the exemptions failed to offset the strong reluctance of US and European companies and banks to risk incurring penalties for exporting or financing exempted humanitarian goods, the report also said.

The result has been to deny Iranians access to essential medicines and to impair their right to health, the report added.

Under international law, the United States should monitor the impact of its sanctions on Iranians' rights and address any violations sanctions cause, according to the report.

Washington fully re-imposed sanctions against Tehran in 2018 that had been lifted under the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement following US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the accord.