Weeks of heavy rain have caused flooding in 23 of Iran’s 31 provinces,
and have tested the ability of NGOs like the Iranian Red Crescent to
ferry aid workers around the country, and get to areas only reachable by
helicopter.
In most cases, a nation would be able to turn to its neighbors, or the UN, for help in such an overwhelming situation. US sanctions, however, have made even emergency aid deliveries next to impossible to pull off.
The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs initially offered
some help with helicopters, but ultimately appears to have backed away,
citing “challenges” caused by the perception that such aid would
violate US sanctions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was deeply critical of the US
sanctions being so hostile to even humanitarian services, saying that
the US had crossed the line from economic warfare to “economic
terrorism.”
C’mon on, Trump just stopped additional sanctions against North Korea, you can’t expect him to allow flood relief to a country that had the audacity to abide by the JCPOA. And remember, there was no collusion.
In Iran’s case, its neighbors include Russia and China via the New Silk Road. Hasn’t it occureed to Trump and the crazy neocons that sanctions only work when everyone goes along with them. Russia and China will send aid, troops, whatever, just like they are doing in Venezuela… and barter for oil, too.
Exactly. The help eill be coming – but it is important for Iran to make sure the world knows exactly what kind of hostility is applied to Iran. Even though humanitarian aid should have never become the victim of sanctions. It is important to point out the disfunctionality of UN under political pressure.
Also, oil like cash is fungiblle. It can be used not only as a barter, but be sold to other producers, such as Russia or Azerbaijan in the neighborhood. Old Soviet pipes are still functional. And they are interconnected — something discovered during short Rusdia-Georgia war. Georgia blocked transit of oil from Azerbaijan to Turkey — being angry over Turkey’s enforcement of Montreaux convention. But Azerbaijan diverted oil to Russia, that pumped it to Turkey via Blue Stream. Now this blockagee would not have occured without US permission. So, in 2008, Turkey learned a valuable lesson.