European medical aid for Iran

In the lingering debate on what may cause global economic collapse, the villain of the piece invariably was a nuclear war or global warming. Nobody has ever thought that it can also be a pandemic (Covid-19) that is now set on course to drastically redraw the international geostrategic and socio-economic formats. A case in point is the European nations' delivery of medical goods to Iran under the Instex (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) mechanism, by-passing the American sanctions on Tehran. France, Germany and the United Kingdom confirm that Instex has "successfully concluded its first transaction, facilitating the export of medical goods from Europe to Iran". More such transactions are expected to take place in coming days and weeks. Iran is one of the early destinations of Covid-19, causing to-date nearly 3,000 deaths. The Islamic republic's effort to contain the deadly virus has been greatly undermined by the US-sanctions. Pakistan is one the first few who called upon the United States to lift its crippling sanctions on a badly coronavirus-hit nation. Now that call is also being made from within the United States. In a public letter, presidential candidates Bernie Senders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a number of human rights outfits have called upon the US government to ease sanctions. And there is also a precedent. President George W. Bush had eased sanctions and delivered aid following an earthquake near Bam in 2003. In fact until last week, Washington was insensate to such calls. It had decided to renew waivers allowing Russia, China and other European companies to continue their Iran non-proliferation work only to 'make it harder for Tehran to develop nuclear weapons'. But this past Tuesday, State Secretary Mike Pompeo appeared to suggest that easing of sanctions was possible. "This is a humanitarian issue and we care more often about the people in those countries than their leaders do," he reportedly said.
Should the United States lift sanctions by allowing medical and agricultural trade with Tehran the leadership in Iran will be required to respond positively by toning down its anti-US rhetoric. What besets it today, and almost the entire world including the United States, is a pandemic with potential to wipe out a huge chunk of mankind. It is not a conflict between two countries; it is an assault by a killer virus which remains untamed and unfettered. Thousands of people have already perished across the continents and the numbers are multiplying by thousands a day. In Pakistan, the number of positive cases soared to over 3,000 with 30 deaths. There is another category known as 'suspected' cases. The number of such cases is said to have gone beyond 12,000. As compared to the death toll in advanced countries such as the United States, Italy, Spain and France this may appear to be acceptable. But that should not be the case. One of the world's most prestigious publication, the Financial Times, has, for example, 80 percent of the UK's population will be infected, leading to 50,000 deaths. The question, therefore, is: where does Pakistan stand?
In Pakistan, some support a formal lockdown while others reject it, arguing that it would irretrievably damage the economy, leading to mass hunger and public unrest. The situation, therefore, underscores the dire need for forging a united national stand and evolving a multi-pronged approach taking into account the national economy and public health.