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Dear Barry, This week, the official death toll in Iran from the coronavirus pandemic surged to 1,433 deaths and nearly 20,000 infected, with tens of thousands of confirmed cases. On top of this, researchers say that Iran’s infections will not peak until late May, at which time as many as 3.5 million Iranian lives may be lost. China and Britain are pressing the U.S. to lift its crippling sanctions on Iran amid the coronavirus crisis. But last week, rather than coming together as a world community, the Trump administration imposed even more sanctions on Iran. “Our [new] sanctions will deprive the regime of critical income from its petrochemical industry and further Iran’s economic and diplomatic isolation,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo bragged, despite the fact that the sanctions are preventing diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of COVID-19. This is evil. This is inhumane. This is murder. Congress and the international community need to step in immediately! Send a message now to your Senators and Representative in Congress calling on them to introduce legislation to lift the sanctions. After you send that message, you will be automatically directed to the petition asking the World Health Organization and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres to issue statements calling on the U.S. to lift the sanctions. To stem COVID-19 infections, Iran has temporarily released 85,000 prisoners and is pardoning another 10,000 political prisoners. They have allowed Navy Veteran Michael White, who was arrested in Iran more than a year ago, to be released to the Swiss Embassy, where he will remain under medical furlough. Pompeo is calling on Iran to release other imprisoned U.S. citizens, as a “humanitarian gesture,” given the risk that is posed by the coronavirus pandemic. These negotiations are great, but the most immediate and necessary humanitarian gesture right now needs to be a lifting of sanctions on Iran so that medical supplies can enter the country. As the coronavirus pandemic sweeps across the U.S. as well — confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. have now surpassed 10,000 — Americans are experiencing the bitter taste of what it means to live in a society of scarce resources: New York City says that within two to three weeks its hospitals will run out of basic medical supplies like masks and gowns. This is a time for all of us, as a global community, to come together. It is certainly not a time for the US to actively prevent another nation from being able to respond to a pandemic. Take action now! Towards health and safety for all, Medea, Ann, Ariel, Asia, Ayanni, Camille, Carley, Caty, Cody, Emily, Jodie, Kelsey, Leonardo, Makena, Michelle, Nancy, Paki, Teri, and Yousef
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