Bernie Sanders and 'the Squad' sign letter urging US to suspend sanctions 'substantially' on Iran over pandemic

Sen. Bernie Sanders joined Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and other Democratic lawmakers in a letter urging the United States to ease sanctions on Iran because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The letter, released Tuesday, was addressed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and requested that economic sanctions issued as part of a “maximum pressure” campaign against the Iranian regime be loosened.

“By targeting an entire economy that supports more than 80 million people, U.S. sanctions make it harder for ordinary Iranians to obtain basic necessities like food and hygienic supplies essential to stemming the pandemic and that are basic to survival,” the letter said.

The letter highlighted new sanctions that were imposed by the U.S. targeting the regime’s income from the trade of petrochemicals. The lawmakers contend that the sanctions are causing damage to Iran’s ability to handle the coronavirus pandemic.

“Rather than continue to invoke new sanctions in the Iranian people’s hour of need, we urge you to substantially suspend sanctions on Iran during this global public health emergency in a humanitarian gesture to the Iranian people to better enable them to fight the virus,” the letter added.

Iran has been one of the hardest-hit countries during the global health crisis. Although the lawmakers cite Iran’s claim that more than 2,000 people have died there from COVID-19, the official death toll has been disputed by both academics and dissidents. The National Council of the Resistance of Iran, a leading dissident group, said Tuesday that it has tallied more than 14,000 deaths.

The letter acknowledged that the regime has “made numerous errors in their handling of the crisis, including failing to act swiftly, provide the public accurate and timely information, and take sufficient quarantine measures.”

Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, said in a Tuesday statement, “As a caring nation, we must lift any sanctions hurting Iran’s ability to address this crisis, including financial sanctions. Every country on earth is going to be affected by the coronavirus. We are all in this together.”

Omar, a Minnesota congresswoman, took criticism of the sanctions a step further and alleged criminality.

“Keeping in place sanctions on Iran during the current public health crisis is not only cruel, it’s criminal,” she said. “These sanctions are not changing the behavior of the government of Iran, they are punishing innocent civilians who are suffering during this pandemic.

Despite the pandemic and the country’s humanitarian disaster, Iranian proxies have continued to carry out attacks.

Earlier this month, Iranian-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah fired Katyusha rockets at Camp Taji in Iraq, a base that houses U.S. troops. Two service members were among three who were killed in the attack. The U.S. responded by launching retaliatory strikes against the militia, which falls under the umbrella of the Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces.

In addition to Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez, and Omar, almost three dozen other Democratic lawmakers signed onto the letter.

Worldwide, there have been more than 856,000 confirmed cases of the virus and at least 42,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.