Despite Looser Rules, Medicine Still Not Flowing to Iran From US
While the Treasury Department has loosened restrictions on the exports of medicine and medical devices to Iran several seeks ago, significant obstacles to conducting such legal trade with Iran remain, Samuel Cutler and Erich Ferrari write for Al-Monitor.
As sanctions over Iran’s disputed nuclear program have intensified over the past year, reports have documented the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Iran. Medicine, in particular, is in short supply across the country, with drugs produced in the United States and European Union the most difficult to find.
Currently, Iranian authorities are blaming the international sanctions for the death of 15-year-old hemophiliac Manouchehr Esmaili-Liousi, who died in a hospital in southwestern Iran after his family was unable to find medicine needed to treat his condition. According to Ahmad Ghavidel, the director of Iran's hemophilia society, 75% of hemophilia drugs are produced in the US and EU.
