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19 November 2010
By Kourosh Ziabari
One of my close friends is suffering from Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder, a severe mental illness which has
almost paralyzed his entire life. He was diagnosed
with the psychosis at the age of 15 and now, more than
a decade after that time, he is married and has two
children. The psychiatrists in Iran have recommended
him to go abroad and pursue his treatment under the
supervision of a group of qualified, experienced
practitioners; however, he was financially unable to
afford the expenses of such a solution and remained in
Iran.
Psychiatrists in Iran have prescribed several drugs
for my friend and he has been taking them over the
past years; however, when I met him a few weeks ago,
he informed me of a shocking, unanticipated incident
which I'm still unable to believe. My friend told me
that the Canadian and Italian manufacturers of his
medicines have ceased exporting their products to Iran
following the imposition of United Nations Security
Council's fourth round of sanctions against Iran and
it's possible that they refuse to export their other
pharmaceutical products to the country as a result of
the sanctions, as well. He told me that his
psychiatrists are not able to prescribe the
high-quality, original medicines for him anymore and
this may seriously jeopardize his mental health and
even put his family life into risk.
My instinctive reaction to what my friend told me was
nothing but perplexity and confusion. I couldn't
understand the relationship between a set of sanctions
which are aimed at what is claimed to be Iran's
"controversial" nuclear program and the mental health
of thousands of patients who are suffering from
different kinds of psychoses all around the country.
At the first glance, what should be noted is that the
four rounds of sanctions which were imposed on Iran by
the UNSC so far are entirely illegal, unfounded and
baseless as the International Atomic Energy Agency has
repeatedly pointed out in its reports that Iran has
never diverted toward enriching uranium to the extent
that is utilizable in the atomic weapons;. The reports
of intelligence services in the United States also
confirm that Iran has never had the intention of
producing nuclear weapons and thus should not be
penalized with sanctions and other punitive measures.
The National Intelligence Estimate report of the
November 2007 has clearly expressed that Iran does not
have a nuclear arsenal and is not moving towards
producing nuclear weapons; therefore, bringing up
Iran's nuclear dossier in Security Council and
imposing several rounds of crippling sanctions against
its people has been merely politicizing Iran's case
which should have been investigated from a legal and
scientific viewpoint, not a political one.
However, what is of high importance is the
hypocritical and inhuman approach of the United States
and its allies concerning Iran's nuclear program which
is turned into an opportunity to confront with the
Iranian nation and curb its scientific and political
developments.
We have been witness to the fact that, under the
pretext of abiding by the UNSC sanctions, several
countries in Europe, Asia and Northern America have
adopted a counterproductive stance toward Iran and
ceased their ordinary financial transactions with
Tehran.
Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea and EU member
states are among the countries which imposed
unilateral, extra-resolution sanctions against Iran
and caused several problems for the Iranian nation.
Refusing to refuel the Iranian planes in the European
airports, suspending the accounts of Iranians in
foreign banks and financial institutions, delaying the
issuance of visas for the Iranians who want to travel
abroad, banning the Iranian students from studying
certain fields in the foreign universities and ceasing
the exportation of vital goods including foodstuff,
medical facilities, fruits and medicines to Iran are
among the belligerent policies which these countries
have adopted against the people of Iran.
With this unconstructive approach, however, the
belligerent countries who have stood against the
nation of Iran demonstrated their dishonesty and
proved that are not worthy of being trusted. First and
foremost, they showed that their claims of being a
friend of Iranian nation are entirely futile and
pointless. They demonstrated that their "Nowrouz"
greeting messages and stretched hands are fake and
deceitful. They can not come to terms with the Iranian
nation and are fated to be the enemies of Iran,
because it's in their interests to spread animosity
and hostility to retain their influence and power.
Secondly, these countries have clearly demonstrated
that they have the least respect for human rights and
what they claim to be their exclusive realm. A country
that deprives the mental patients of another country,
which is in dire need of high-quality medication to
meet its pharmaceutical needs, of its medical products
cannot be called a defender of human rights. Thousands
of innocent civilians are suffering here in Iran, and
they should be punished by the supercilious, arrogant
powers simply because these powers favor being at odds
with the independent and self-determining nations.
Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon regularly
lashes out at other countries for what he claims to be
their abuses of human rights; however, his own
country, with a long period of abusing the rights of
its ethnic minorities, refuses to export medicines to
Iran because it wants to "abide by the UNSC
resolutions". It might be interesting to know Mr.
Cannon's viewpoints regarding human rights and the way
his country glorifies the humankind. Thousands of
mental patients are suffering in a remote country and
those who promote themselves as the harbingers of
human rights, deprive these "humans" from their most
essential right which is a proper medication. How is
it possible to justify the Canadian style of
respecting the human rights, we don't know! - Kourosh Ziabari is an Iranian freelance journalist and media
correspondent. He has interviewed political commentator and linguist Noam
Chomsky, member of New Zealand parliament Keith Locke, Australian politician Ian
Cohen, member of German Parliament Ruprecht Polenz, former Mexican President
Vicente Fox, former U.S. National Security Council advisor Peter D. Feaver,
Nobel Prize laureate in Physics Wolfgang Ketterle, Nobel Prize laureate in
Chemistry Kurt Wüthrich, Nobel Prize laureate in biology Robin Warren, famous
German political prisoner Ernst Zündel, Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff,
American author Stephen Kinzer, syndicated journalist Eric Margolis, former
assistant of the U.S. Department of the Treasury Paul Craig Roberts,
American-Palestinian journalist Ramzy Baroud and the former President of the
American Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Sid Ganis. |
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