Iran FM Zarif: U.S. sanctions amount to collective punishment of Iranians, violation of international humanitarian law.
US Sees New Pressure Point As Coronavirus Hits Iran
By Shaun TANDON
03/14/20 AT 4:10 AM
After months of piling pressure on Tehran, the United States is seeing an unexpected new variable -- the novel coronavirus, which has taken a substantial toll not just on Iran but inside its government.
US policymakers are asking whether deaths within the regime are widespread enough that they could alter decision-making -- although a deadly rocket attack Wednesday in Iraq, which Washington blamed on Iran, showed at least that the cycle of conflict between the countries is not abating.
COVID-19, which has infected tens of thousands of people around the world, has hit Iran's government unusually hard, with a number of senior politicians and officials killed or infected by the disease including a vice president, a senior adviser to the foreign minister and a powerful cleric.
Iranian firefighters and municipality workers disinfect streets in the capital Tehran in a bid to halt the wild spread of coronavirus
Iranian firefighters and municipality workers disinfect streets in the capital Tehran in a bid to halt the wild spread of coronavirus Photo: AFP / STR
General Kenneth McKenzie, head of Central Command which covers the Middle East, said the United States believed the impact was worse than the more than 500 deaths reported -- the world's third highest toll after China and Italy -- and said US policymakers were assessing the political ramifications.
"Of course, death is permanent," McKenzie told reporters Friday.
"In the short term, it's going to make it a lot harder to make decisions. People are separated."
A municipality worker cleans a bus in Tehran to halt the the spread of coronavirus
A municipality worker cleans a bus in Tehran to halt the the spread of coronavirus Photo: AFP / ATTA KENARE
A day earlier, McKenzie told a Senate hearing that the health crisis -- two months after Iranian public outrage over the accidental downing of a civilian Ukrainian plane -- made the leadership "more dangerous" as it would likely seek to "unite the masses of its people against an external target."
"There is very little evidence in the history of warfare of a regime that has a crippling internal problem that decides to focus on the crippling internal problem," he said.
An Iranian medic treats a patient infected with the COVID-19 virus at a hospital in Tehran in March 2020
An Iranian medic treats a patient infected with the COVID-19 virus at a hospital in Tehran in March 2020 Photo: MIZAN NEWS AGENCY / KOOSHA MAHSHID FALAHI
President Donald Trump, closely allied with Iran's regional adversaries Saudi Arabia and Israel, has sought to debilitate the Shiite clerical regime through sweeping sanctions including on Iran's key export of oil.
Nearly two years ago, Trump bolted from an agreement brokered by his predecessor Barack Obama under which Iran drastically scaled back nuclear activities in return for promises of economic relief.
Even with Trump exempting humanitarian goods from sanctions, few companies are willing to risk US wrath by selling to Iran.
Iranian Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi wipes the sweat off his face during a February 2020 news conference before testing positive for the novel coronavirus
Iranian Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi wipes the sweat off his face during a February 2020 news conference before testing positive for the novel coronavirus Photo: FARS NEWS / MEHDI BOLOURIAN
"The current crisis in Iran is really one that has been the result of the government's own missteps in its policies rather than the American sanctions," said Amir Afkhami, a professor at George Washington University who has studied Iran's public health system.
"But the American sanctions have certainly contributed to worsening an already very bad situation."
Iran has historically boasted one of the region's strongest public health systems. Afkhami cited unconfirmed reports that some officials have flown to Lebanon for treatment as a sign of the burden on Iranian hospitals.
