AOC and Ilhan Omar are demanding that President Trump lift sanctions from Iran during the coronavirus crisis. They can demand all day long and halfway through the night, but it is not going to happen. And why should the sanctions be lifted? Certainly not for humanitarian reasons. Iran was given billions in cash by Obama and how much of that trickled down to the people?
Not one red cent. Instead that money went to support terrorism and what would make anyone in their right mind think that lifting the sanctions would change the minds of the leadership in Iran? Of course, Democrats are never in their right minds otherwise they would be conservatives. President Trump offered Iran humanitarian aid but he was turned down cold.
Ilhan Omar tweeted:
“I led a letter with [Rep. Ocasio-Cortez] and [Sen. Bernie Sanders] demanding this Administration end sanctions against Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic. These sanctions aren’t changing the behavior of the Iranian government, but directly punishing innocent civilians.”
Exclu: @AOC @BernieSanders @IlhanMN @ewarren & co want to suspend sanctions on Iran that make it hard to import meds, PPE & respirators despite one of the world’s biggest COVID-19 outbreaks and Trump’s claims of having made enough humanitarian concessions.https://t.co/S42tATdyLX
— Akbar Shahid Ahmed (@AkbarSAhmed) March 31, 2020
As reported by the HuffPost on Tuesday, Omar, Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders are among over two-dozen Democratic lawmakers who signed a letter sent to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Tuesday demanding the administration “suspend sweeping U.S. sanctions on Iran that are hindering the country’s response to its massive coronavirus outbreak.”
“Allowing this crisis to become more dire in Iran threatens significant harm not only to the people of Iran but also to people in the United States and around the world,” the letter reads.
“Our many disputes with the government of Iran or others should not stand in the way of actions that can materially help innocent people weather a pandemic,” the Democratic lawmakers assert.
As a precedent for such an action, the letter notes that President George W. Bush’s administration “eased sanctions” and “delivered aid” to Iran after the 2003 earthquake near Bam.
Among the sanctions relief they are demanding are “those that encompass major sectors of the Iranian economy, including those impacting civilian industries, Iran’s banking sector and exports of oil.” The easing of sanctions should last “for at least as long as health experts believe the crisis will continue,” the lawmakers insist.