“How evil and heartless can this government get?” peace activist Medea Benjamin asked Wednesday after the State Department announced it would impose new sanctions on Iran as the country faces one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the world.
The move by the U.S. government flew in the face of demands from advocacy groups and the Iranian government to suspend sanctions to ensure Iranians can access life-saving medication and supplies.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the U.S. will introduce fresh sanctions on nine entities and three individuals who the U.S. says provide the Iranian government with revenue, in order to “deprive the regime of critical income from its petrochemical industry and further Iran’s economic and diplomatic isolation.”
The move follows rocket attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq, which the Trump administration claims were linked to Iran-backed forces.
Benjamin, co-founder of the anti-war group CODEPINK, called the State Department’s move “unconscionable….”
General view of a hospital where health officers, wearing masks and special protective suits, take care of a patient infected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) at a hospital in Tehran, Iran on March 02, 2020. (Photo: Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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