While the political jockeying gets more attention, candidates in the 2020 Democratic presidential race are advancing serious policy proposals. The Washington Times takes a weekly look at how the candidates’ proposals stack up against each other.
Iran has asked the U.S. to lift sanctions that the regime says is exacerbating the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has noted that emergency supplies such as medical goods are exempt from sanctions, though he said this week that the U.S. could rethink the situation after the U.S. imposed a new round of sanctions on Iran two weeks ago.
Bernard Sanders
Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont joined more than two dozen members of Congress in petitioning the Trump administration to ease the sanctions.
They said the Iranian government hasn’t acted swiftly enough or provided accurate information to the public, but that U.S. sanctions have devastated the country’s public health sector.
“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,” they wrote to Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin and Mr. Pompeo.
They lobbied for relief from sanctions that involve “major sectors” of the Iranian economy, including the banking sector and oil exports, and said the relief should last as long as health experts think the crisis will continue.
Mr. Sanders and the other lawmakers said they support the U.S. offer of direct aid to Iran to combat the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, as well as the Treasury Department’s decision to exempt humanitarian trade involving the Central Bank of Iran from sanctions.
“However, we are concerned by the decision to impose new sanctions against Iran on March 18,” they said. “Such a decision is both callous and short-sighted in light of the seriousness of the public health crisis and the shared nature of the threat.”
Among those joining Mr. Sanders on the letter were Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a former 2020 presidential candidate, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a firebrand freshman who has endorsed Mr. Sanders, and Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who is a co-chairman of Mr. Sanders’ campaign.
Joseph R. Biden
Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden followed up Thursday by offering qualified support for aid and sanctions relief for Iran.
Mr. Biden said the Trump administration’s move to abandon the Obama-era 2015 nuclear deal and exert a “maximum pressure” strategy has “badly backfired.”
“It makes no sense, in a global health crisis, to compound that failure with cruelty by inhibiting access to needed humanitarian assistance,” Mr. Biden said. “Whatever our profound differences with the Iranian government, we should support the Iranian people.”
He acknowledged the humanitarian exceptions in place for sanctions but said that in practice countries and other organizations are too worried about running afoul of U.S. sanctions to offer assistance to Iran.
Mr. Biden called for issuing “broad” licenses to pharmaceutical and medical device companies and creating a new special channel for international banks, transportation companies, insurers, and other businesses to help Iranians access medical treatment.
He also said there should be new sanctions guidance to groups and international aid organizations to make it clear how they can help Iran legally.
“The administration’s offer of aid to Iran is insufficient if not backed by concrete steps to ensure the United States is not exacerbating this growing humanitarian crisis,” he said.
He said Iran should make a gesture of its own and allow detained U.S. citizens to return home.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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