TEHRAN – The head of Iran’s Academy of Medical Sciences has written a letter to the United Nations complaining about the “unjust sanctions” of the U.S. against the Iranian nation, urging the international body to take action against such an inhumane act.

In his letter addressed to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Alireza Marandi said, “I have written to your Excellency on previous occasions with regard to the unjust sanctions of the regime of the United States of America against our people in Iran.”

The sanctions have led to many obstacles in providing all kinds of medicine and equipment needed for the medical treatment of the Iranian population, he explained, according to Tasnim news agency.

“Unfortunately, we are now facing further illegal and inhumane obstructions by the United States in its indiscriminate blocking of international aid to Iranians affected by the recent floods, which have devastated large areas throughout the country.”

Marandi also criticized international human rights organizations for remaining “consistently silent” in the face of the crimes committed by the United States.

Last year, President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the United States out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and unleashed the “toughest ever” economic sanctions against Tehran.

Officially, the measures exempt humanitarian goods, such as medicine and medicinal instruments but in reality they have had negative impacts on Iran’s health sector and restricted the country’s access to medical and health services.

Iranian officials have also blasted the U.S. administration for hampering shipments of relief supplies to the areas devastated by unprecedented floods caused by heavy spring rains. 

MH/PA