Iran says Western sanctions have targeted the country’s ailing population and Iranians in general.
ISNA reports that Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency, said: “The latest report by [Yukiya] Amano once more proves that Iran’s enrichment activities are for peaceful purposes and being carried out under the agency’s complete supervision and the West’s sanctions against Iran are aimed the people and the sick in Iran.”
In the latest IAEA report, agency chief Yukiya Amano did not offer any concrete evidence that Iran may be directing its nuclear activities towards weapons production; however, Amano maintains that he cannot say for certain that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful.
In recent weeks, many Iranian officials have expressed concern regarding a shortage of medical drugs and equipment in Iran.
The Etemad daily reported on Monday November 19: “Part of the drug shortages that the country is wrestling with are brought on by the sanctions that Western countries have imposed on the grounds that they are pressuring the Iranian government.”
Etemad adds: “All these pressures are being forced on the people while none of the UN resolutions on Iran mentions anything about restricting medical drugs; however, the people are the first victims of this situation.”
The Iranian government says the sanctions on Iran’s financial sector are seriously impeding its efforts to provide the country with the drugs it needs.
Recent unilateral U.S. and EU sanctions have targeted Iran’s oil and financial sectors in response to the impasse reached in nuclear talks with Iran.
Iran insists that its nuclear program is peaceful, but the West wants Iran to end its uranium enrichment activities. Iran says uranium enrichment is necessary to provide fuel for its nuclear reactor used for producing medical isotopes, adding that as an NPT signatory, it has a right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.
The head of the Health and Treatment Commission of Iran’s Parliament has announced that the country’s medical reserves will be depleted in two months.
