Ban’s silence to ailing Iranians morally unjustified: Head of Medical Academy

President of Academy of Medical Sciences Dr. Seyed Alireza Marandi, in a second letter to Ban Ki-Moon, the UN Secretary General, has crticized him for his silence and indifference to the threats directed at the health of Iranian people and urged him to show real action.

US-led sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear energy program have created grave problems for the acquisition of imported medicine and medical supplies, putting the lives of millions of Iranian patients at high stake.

Following is the text of Dr Marandi’s letter to Ban Ki-moon.

United Nations Secretary General 26 Jan 2013
His Excellency Ban Ki-Moon
Excellency,

I would like to congratulate you on the Christian New Year and I hope this will be a year of well being and peace for all people. Subsequent to the letter I sent to you on November 26, 2012 and the response received from your office on December 8, 2012, I should point out that Iranian and even Western media outlets have reported extensively on the obvious fact that sanctions imposed on the Iranian banking sector have created grave problems for the acquisition of imported medicines, medical equipment, and foodstuff as banking transactions to and from Iran have become impossible. It is quite unfortunate that some people cannot comprehend such an urgent, obvious and vital issue and instead make requests for documents and evidence. Your office can easily access the media reporting, or contact pharmaceutical companies involved in production and trade as well as representatives of the Iranian chamber of commerce to make inquiries about such an obvious matter.

As the individual responsible for surveying and monitoring national health related issues, I affirm that this problem is real and the current situation was predictable from the start of the brutal sanctions. Your predecessor shamefully allowed the United Nations to be used to justify the imposition of sanctions on Iraq, which killed one million people, half of whom were children. Did the extensive documentation of those sanctions’ harm help save a single Iraqi subject to that collective punishment?

As in my previous letter, here I put you on notice that your silence and indifference to the threats directed at the health and well being of the Iranian people as a result of the illegal and inhumane financial sanctions, has no moral justification and history will remember your actions.

Yours sincerely,

Seyed Alireza Marandi , M.D.
President,
Academy of Medical Sciences