Very least US can do is remove impediments to Iran’s buying medical supplies: Robert Hunter

In an interview with MNA

TEHRAN, (MNA) –Robert E. Hunter, the former US ambassador to NATO, says the very least the US can do is remove the impediments to Iran’s buying medical supplies from other countries.

 “What Secretary Pompeo, especially, is doing, does not comport with the long-standing American practice and belief in helping people in need. It is also inconsistent with the beliefs of all three monotheistic (Abrahamic) religions,” Hunter tells the MNA.

Following is the full text of the exclusive interview with Hunter:

While the outbreak of the Coronavirus may necessitate the suspension of US sanctions, the US has imposed new sanctions on Iran. Why has the US now imposed new sanctions?

Secretary of State Pompeo, especially, continues apparently to believe that increasing “maximum pressure" on Iran will lead to the fall of the current regime, or at least will cripple Iran so much that it will be unable to threaten any of his neighbors.  He must see the coronavirus as an excellent opportunity to increase this pressure at a difficult time for Iran.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has sent letters to leaders in several countries on the state of the fight against the Coronavirus, saying US sanctions have created problems for Iran in confronting the Coronavirus. Is this issue considered by Trump administration in the new sanctions?

Apparently not at all, except as an opportunity to try crushing Iran and its people.  Trump has offered some help, though this has been blocked by limits on the capacity of Iran to pay for medical supplies through the international banking system.  Also, I understand that Iran has said it does not want any US help.

US sanctions have hampered the possibility of humanitarian trade with Iran because of the inability to transfer money. Isn't facilitating humanitarian trade with Iran a humanitarian necessity when the Coronavirus kills many innocents?

I agree with you.  This is a humanitarian crisis.  The very least the US can do is remove the impediments to Iran’s buying medical supplies from other countries.  What Secretary Pompeo, especially, is doing, does not comport with the long-standing American practice and belief in helping people in need. It is also inconsistent with the beliefs of all three monotheistic (Abrahamic) religions.

Ambassador Robert Hunter is Director of the Center for Transatlantic Security Studies at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University.  He previously served as U.S. Ambassador to NATO under President Clinton and U.S. representative to the Western European Union. He was the principal architect of the "New NATO," led the North Atlantic Council in implementing decisions of the 1994 and 1997 NATO Summits and obtained air-strike decisions that halted the Bosnian war.

Hunter was also a Member of Secretary Cohen's Defense Policy Board. He was Director of West European Affairs and later Director of Middle East Affairs on the National Security Council during the Carter Administration, and was a principal author of the Carter Doctrine for the Persian Gulf. Before that, Hunter was foreign policy advisor to Senator Edward Kennedy and foreign and domestic policy advisor to Vice President Humphrey. He served on the White House staff in the Johnson Administration and in the U.S. Department of the Navy on the Polaris project. Hunter has been a Senior Fellow at the Overseas Development Council, a Research Associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and a Professorial Lecturer at the London School of Economics, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins (SAIS) and George Washington University, he also served as a Senior Advisor for RAND Corporation.

Hunter received his Ph.D. in international relations and was a Fulbright Scholar at the London School of Economics. He received his B.A. from Wesleyan University.

Interview by Javad Heirannia