Dear John,

As we learn more about the outbreak and spread of coronavirus in Iran, it has become clear that the combination of the Iranian government's lack of transparency and ineptitude and U.S. sanctions has exacerbated the public health crisis.
For months, Iran's health sector has suffered under the weight of U.S. sanctions that limit the country's access to critical humanitarian trade and Western-manufactured medical devices and pharmaceuticals. For this reason, NIAC has pressed for humanitarian relief for months and on Tuesday sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Treasury [[link removed]] urging it to take immediate steps to ensure that U.S. sanctions do not hinder the humanitarian relief Iran needs to address the outbreak.
Fortunately today, the Treasury Department announced it would exempt humanitarian trade [[link removed]] involving the Central Bank of Iran, which is a key first step to ensuring sanctions do not impede the global response to the coronavirus. While this is a welcome move, that the Treasury had to partially reverse its own sanctions that NIAC strongly opposed [[link removed]] and warned would have grave humanitarian consequences underscores the shortsightedness and inhumanity of broad collective punishment sanctions.
NIAC will continue to advocate that the Treasury Department take additional steps to not only to clear its own blockades shuttering humanitarian trade corridors, but also to issue the public guidance needed to instill confidence in the organizations, banks, and companies critical to facilitating humanitarian trade.
We also strongly urge the Trump administration to follow through on its promise to stand with the Iranian people by providing medical devices and medicine needed to address and treat the outbreak. To learn more about the coronavirus outbreak in Iran, please refer to our newly released FAQ [[link removed]] .
Today's breakthrough with the Treasury, and our continued ability to conduct policy research and advocacy on such critical issues, wouldn't be possible without you.
Here's how else you can help:
*
Donate
to
organizations
like
Relief
International
[[link removed]]
and
Moms
Against
Poverty
[[link removed]]
,
who
are
licensed
to
conduct
humanitarian
relief
inside
Iran
and
launching
efforts
to
provide
key
medical
supplies
to
those
who
need
it.
*
Take
action
to
support
Rep.
Ilhan
Omar's
“Congressional
Oversight
of
Sanctions
Act,”
[[link removed]]
which
would
offer
greater
oversight
on
sanctions
to
protect
against
harm
to
civilian
populations.
Thanks, as always, for your support—and we'll keep you updated as we learn more.
Best,
Jamal Abdi
President, NIAC
Support NIAC [[link removed]]
PO Box 65439 | Washington, DC 20035
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