Flattening the Curve of U.S.- Iran Tensions ​

COVID-19 is ravaging Iran. So are US sanctions.

Tehran’s initial response to COVID-19 was disastrous. As a result, Iran is the country in the Middle East most affected by this pandemic. At the same time, despite exemptions, U.S. sanctions are jeopardizing international efforts to deliver medical supplies and humanitarian goods to a country that was already under economic hardship prior to the pandemic.

In Washington, President Trump has resisted international calls for easing sanctions on Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Tehran, President Hassan Rouhani has refused to ask for aid from the U.S. as long as the U.S. continues the “extreme pressure” campaign that includes economic sanctions against Iran. The losers? The Iranian people who suffer from the broken Iranian economy, from the U.S. sanctions and now from this global pandemic.

A silver lining from COVID-19?

There is no one better than Ambassador Thomas Pickering to shed light on how COVID-19 could provide the chance for both nations to adopt a new approach that can mitigate the suffering, avoid military conflict, and end what seems to be a zero-sum game.

Ambassador Thomas Pickering last served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, the third highest post in the U.S. State Department, and as ambassador to the United Nations, the Russian Federation, India, Israel, El Salvador, Nigeria and Jordan.