Truth | "Economic coercion" is the "knife" in the hands of the United States for killing people | Iran | The United States

Image: In November 2021, Iranian protesters burned the US flag.

The New York Times recently commented in an article titled "The US Government Created Its Own" Anti American Alliance "that the growing unity between Iran and Cuba is largely due to the US attempting to starve Cuba and make Iran submit. The United States is accustomed to accusing other countries of using their great power status, coercive policies, and economic coercion to coerce other countries into obeying and engaging in coercive diplomacy. However, in fact, the United States is the initiator of coercive diplomacy.

Developing countries are the hardest hit areas for the United States to engage in excessive coercive diplomacy. Taking Iran as an example, since 1979, the United States has been implementing various unilateral sanctions against Iran for a long time. Under the harsh terms of the comprehensive trade embargo, many Iranians are unable to access even essential medicines. The Guardian reported in 2013 that under sanctions from Western countries in the United States, there was a severe shortage of chemotherapy drugs needed by cancer patients and life-saving drugs such as clotting agents needed by hemophilia patients. Although Western countries have exempted some drugs from sanctions, it is not useful in reality as it still conflicts with comprehensive restrictions on the banking industry. A pharmaceutical company manager told The Guardian, "Some companies have agreed to sell drugs to us, but we cannot make payment. For example, once our money was left in the bank for four months, but the transfer was repeatedly rejected."

The 2014 issue of the Iranian Journal of Public Health stated that although some drugs were not included in the sanctions list, it was difficult to obtain permits for drug exports, financial transactions, and transportation, as well as concerns that the United States may impose sanctions on pharmaceutical companies and international banks, resulting in shortages of specific drugs and medical facilities. More than 6 million patients with complex diseases such as hemophilia, multiple sclerosis, thalassemia, epilepsy, and various immune disorders, renal dialysis patients, and cancer patients have all felt this impact. Iran's operating room anesthetics are about to run out, and hospitals can only purchase outdated anesthetics that are no longer in use. Many patients cannot afford any interruption or delay in treatment, and there have been cases of deaths in Iran due to drug shortages.

According to Al Jazeera's 2021 report, there are approximately 1000 patients with epidermolysis bullosa in Iran, a rare and deadly genetic disease that can cause blisters and wounds on the skin. Some patients describe it as "like boiling water continuously dripping onto the skin, and you feel this pain every day and every moment. You can see how your skin peels off.". A special bandage produced by a Swedish company can help patients alleviate pain, but in 2018, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement and continuously imposed additional sanctions on Iran. The Swedish company stopped exporting this product to Iran, and the pain once again hit patients. A patient had to undergo a leg amputation due to an infection caused by a continuously expanding leg wound. Since the discontinuation of this product, nearly 30 Iranian EB patients have died, especially distressing, most of whom are children. UN News reported in 2021 that the Swedish company's actions were due to "excessive compliance" with US sanctions to avoid being punished by the US for conducting trade with Iran. The same situation also occurred with Iranian child Amir Hussein Naroy. According to a report from the US investigative website "Intercept" on June 12, the child suffered from thalassemia and passed away at the age of 10. He originally took medication from a Swiss pharmaceutical company, but due to concerns about being sanctioned by the US, the child could no longer obtain this medication.

In the long run, the US impact on Iran's foreign exchange will also affect Iran's drug supply. In 2012, in order to comprehensively contain Iran, the United States and the European Union removed Iran from the Global Interbank Financial Communications Association payment system, resulting in Iran being unable to use international currencies such as the US dollar and euro for cross-border transactions. Its currency value depreciated by about 38% in a year, and Iran's foreign trade fell into recession, with import and export volumes sharply declining and crude oil exports halving. In 2018, the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement and once again kicked Iran out of the SWIFT system. According to research by American think tanks, Iran has lost half of its oil exports and 30% of its foreign trade revenue due to the impact of the aforementioned sanctions. Iran International Television reported on June 28th that due to US sanctions on oil exports, the Iranian government has long lacked foreign exchange and is therefore unable to import pharmaceutical raw materials, which has hit Iran's pharmaceutical industry. Currently, there are shortages in about 200 different types of commonly used drugs and hospital medications.

During the COVID-19 epidemic, the lack of medicine among the Iranian people became more serious. The 2020 issue of The Lancet magazine stated that Iran's lack of medical, pharmaceutical, and laboratory equipment, such as protective clothing and essential drugs, has exacerbated the impact and casualties of the epidemic. "Although sanctions do not seem to be physical weapons of war, they are equally deadly, and even more so. Harming public health for political purposes is not only illegal, but also barbaric.". Bloomberg reported in 2020 that Iran stated that US sanctions against its banking system have resulted in the inability to import 2 million doses of vaccines, and that US sanctions have expanded to lending institutions used for importing drugs and food. In February this year, Iranian President Leahy revealed a detail during his visit to China - the United States also included the COVID-19 vaccine in the scope of sanctions. When Lech first met with United Nations Secretary General Guterres in New York, he also mentioned this point. Guterres apologized to Lech, saying that no matter how hard he tried, he could not get the United States to lift its vaccine sanctions on Iran.

In the absence of medicine, many Iranian people have to buy medicine at high prices through the black market. The Guardian reported in 2013 that smugglers rode donkeys from Türkiye to Iran, but there was no way to identify genuine drugs and fake drugs, and drugs would also deteriorate when crossing the border. The drug black market in Tehran is thriving, with prices doubling in a few years, and the source and quality of the drugs are also questionable. The BBC reported in 2013 that someone tried to buy medicine for his mother to treat diabetes, but because Iran could not import the raw materials of this medicine from Europe, it could not be bought in pharmacies. Finally, she found a black market merchant to buy a small amount of medicine at a price 4 times higher than the market price, and when these drugs ran out, no one knew what to do.

In addition to drug issues directly related to health, US sanctions have had an impact on the Iranian people in all aspects. Former Iranian President Rouhani once stated that the sanctions imposed by the Trump administration have caused at least $200 billion in economic losses to Iran, and that the US sanctions against Iran are inhumane, criminal and terrorist acts.

Even in times of war, the violation of women and children is intolerable, and wherever the US sanctions go, vulnerable groups often become the first to be injured. The United States attempts to use extreme pressure to achieve "pressure driven change", and has repeatedly argued in the face of the adverse consequences of sanctions that this is not its own problem, but because Iran has not changed. What is the logic of a robber when the perpetrator does not voluntarily stop, but instead accuses the victim of not being obedient enough?