Should Iran still be sanctioned during the pandemic?

Calls are growing for sanctions relief as Covid-19 bites hard in Iran, but Tehran continues to orchestrate attacks

Iran
More conventional precautions, such as face masks and distancing, being taken in Qom, Iran
(Image credit: Fatemah Bahrami/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The United States has ruthlessly maintained its “maximum pressure” policy of punitive sanctions against Iran, despite coronavirus taking a catastrophic toll on the Middle Eastern country.

On Wednesday, officials in Tehran reported the nation’s single biggest jump in deaths from Covid-19 as another 147 people died - bringing the total to 1,135. On the same day, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a new raft of sanctions.

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William Gritten

William Gritten is a London-born, New York-based strategist and writer focusing on politics and international affairs.