Will the US ease its sanctions on Iran due to coronavirus?

“We are constantly re-evaluating all of our policies, including our sanctions policy,” says Pompeo.

By OMRI NAHMIAS
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addresses a news conference in the Press Briefing Room at the State Department in Washington, U.S., January 7, 2020 (photo credit: REUTERS/TOM BRENNER)
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addresses a news conference in the Press Briefing Room at the State Department in Washington, U.S., January 7, 2020
(photo credit: REUTERS/TOM BRENNER)
WASHINGTON – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did not rule out the possibility that the US would ease sanctions on a few countries, Iran among them, in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
When asked about the possibility that the Trump administration would reconsider its position on the matter, Pompeo said that the administration is constantly reevaluating its policies.
“We evaluate all of our policies constantly, so the answer is – would we ever rethink? – Of course. We’re constantly trying to make sure we have our policies right,” he said.
Pompeo noted that humanitarian assistance – which includes medical devices, equipment and pharmaceuticals – is not sanctioned.
“It’s not always an American sanction,” he continued. “In North Korea, there are UN Security Council resolutions. In other places, they are, in fact, American provisions. But in each of those, if you read them, it’s quite on its face that these items aren’t sanctioned. There’s no prohibition on bringing humanitarian assistance into these difficult and challenging places.”
He also addressed which decisions the North Korean and Iranian regimes need to take.
“Some of these countries continue to build bombs and missiles and nuclear capabilities, while their people are starving,” Pompeo added. “So, when they claim that, boy, they just don’t have the money to feed their citizens, these are decisions that these people, leaders, have often made, which were not in the best interest of their citizens. It is, indeed, quite sad to see those governments make those decisions that harm their own people.”
Pompeo went on to say that the US often cares about people in those countries more than their leaders do.
“We’ve worked to try and give assistance to North Korea,” he said. “We’ve offered assistance to Iran. When we first began, we worked diligently in Venezuela to get humanitarian assistance to the Venezuelan people as well,” he added.


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