World press review on medicine in Iran (January 14, 2013)

"Iran unable to get life-saving drugs due to international sanctions," an article in the Guardian

states. Western measures targeting

Tehran's nuclear programme have impeded trade of medicines for

illnesses such as cancer.

"Hundreds of thousands of Iranians with serious illnesses have been

put at imminent risk by the unintended consequences of international

sanctions, which have led to dire shortages of life-saving medicines

such as chemotherapy drugs for cancer and bloodclotting agents for

haemophiliacs," the Guardian says.

"Western governments have built waivers into the sanctions regime –

aimed at persuading Tehran to curb its nuclear programme – in an

effort to ensure that essential medicines get through, but those

waivers are not functioning, as they conflict with blanket

restrictions on banking, as well as bans on "dual-use" chemicals which

might have a military application," the newspaper explains. "European

officials are aware of the potential for disaster reminiscent of the

debacle of the UN oil-for-food programme imposed on Iraq under Saddam

Hussein, and discussions are under way in Brussels on how to

strengthen safeguards for at-risk Iranians. The US treasury says its

office of foreign asset control is seeking to reassure banks that they

will not be penalised for financing humanitarian sales. However, the

US and EU bans on doing business with the major Iranian financial

institutions still make such transactions extremely difficult and

risk-averse western companies have tended to avoid them."