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World bodies must break silence on US economic sanctions: Iran's health minister

In this June 19, 2019 photo, an 8-year-old boy suffering from liver cancer, sits in a hospital room at Mahak Children's Hospital, in Tehran, Iran. (By AP)

International organizations should not remain silent about Washington's cruel economic sanctions that also target Iran's food and medicine, an Iranian minister has said, warning of the adverse consequences of the bans.

"The brave Iranian people are being victimized by plots and economic sanctions that have been imposed by the US administration," Iran's Minister of Health and Medical Education Saeed Namaki said in a letter to Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday.



The health minister emphasized that major obstacles put by the US in the way of Iran's import of medicine and medical equipment have had a negative impact on the treatment of many Iranian patients.

"By imposing sanctions on the Iranian nation, the US has not only committed economic terrorism but in practice it has carried out a crime against humanity," Namaki said.




Officially, the sanctions exempt humanitarian goods, such as medicine and medicinal instruments. But in reality, the measures have restricted Iran's access to medical and health services.



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