This week, the death toll from COVID-19 in Iran has crossed a devastating milestone: at least 2,750 lives lost. The World Health Organization estimates the toll is possibly five times higher. And just how many more people die will depend in part on what the Trump administration decides in the next few days.
Masks, ventilators, protective gear: U.S. sanctions on Iran severely restrict or complicate the ability for Iranian healthcare workers to get desperately needed equipment. And the U.S. government wouldn’t have to spend a dime to provide it: they could simply remove the barriers that block international organizations from helping.
That’s why the Win Without War team — in spite of quarantines, childcare challenges, and personal tragedies — is fighting with everything we’ve got to push the Trump administration to temporarily suspend sanctions on Iran to help support the Iranian people in having a fighting chance at surviving this crisis. And we need your help to keep it up.
Incredibly, it seems like instead of seeing the devastation of the coronavirus impacts in Iran as the desperate humanitarian crisis it is, the Trump administration is callously treating it as a moment of military and political opportunity.
In fact, earlier this month the administration added new sanctions, ratcheted up tensions with recent missile strikes, and continued their refusals to support aid efforts that have been called for by world leaders across the globe.
And it’s not only cruel, it’s foolish to think that what happens in Iran will stay in Iran: everyone’s safety and protection from COVID-19 depends on every country cooperating together to suppress the virus and support each other across borders as best we can.
With each passing day, the prognosis for 80 MILLION people in Iran gets worse — it’s predicted that if more is not done to slow the spread of the virus, at least 3.5 million people in Iran will die of COVID-19.
Viruses don’t care about politics. Everyone is impacted by this rapidly evolving pandemic.
And there is one thing we can do right now.
That’s why we’re fighting in a cross-community coalition with allied diaspora and progressive movement groups to mobilize over 60,000 people like you to urge Secretary Mnuchin to suspend sanctions immediately. We’re speaking out at every turn — on social media, in statements, and in the media to make sure this crisis receives the attention it requires. And we’re working hand-in-hand with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s office to raise the alarm in Congress, urge more members of Congress to join her effort, and make sure that this crisis isn’t forgotten among so many urgent legislative needs.
That’s why we need your help to keep up the pressure and give people in Iran the support they need, because as you’ve probably experienced personally, this is an extremely challenging moment to work at full speed.
There isn't anyone in the world right now who hasn’t been personally impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. We see you, and we are right there with you. And in this moment, as we continue our critical work to advance a progressive foreign policy, we are also supporting our progressive partners to strengthen protections and create safety nets for people affected by this crisis in the United States.
We do this because we are all in this together. And a crisis like the coronavirus pandemic — so dramatic in scope — will require global cooperation and the willingness of each of us to look outside of ourselves, our communities, and beyond our borders to keep one another safe. Let’s support people in Iran in creating a new lifeline right now.
This is a trying time for so many of us, Jessie, and we’re so incredibly grateful for the energy, activism, and dedication of the Win Without War community.
Thank you for working for peace,
Mariam, Shayna, Annika, and the Win Without War team
© Win Without War Education Fund 2020
1 Thomas Circle NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005
(202) 656-4999 | info@winwithoutwar.org
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