Iran is fast becoming the new epicenter of the deadly novel coronavirus. It now has the highest number of fatalities due to this virus, second only to China, where the initial outbreak started.
From the outset, the Islamic Republic’s lack of attention and inadequacy in responding to this potential human catastrophe was on full display. The government of President Hassan Rouhani donated 3 million medical grade face masks to China a mere two weeks before the avalanche of new diagnoses and deaths among Iranians.
The situation is dire. Even the physicians and nurses providing care lack access to simple surgical face masks and protective gear, putting healthcare providers in Iran at a significant risk.
One example is 25-year-old Narges Khanalizadeh from Gilan Province, who succumbed to the deadly disease after contracting the virus while working as a nurse at the emergency department of Milad Lahijan Hospital.
Ordinary Iranians are feeling helpless and vulnerable but have yet to lose hope. Calls by experts from inside and outside of Iran to enforce a voluntary lockdown of the entire country to combat the spread of the disease has met fierce resistance and even arrests by the Islamic Republic regime.
The Islamic Republic clearly has no regard for human life, inside or outside of Iran. And the regime’s sheer ineptitude is challenging the region’s increasingly fragile stability. Already, multiple neighboring countries have stopped flights to Iran in response to confirmed cases of coronavirus in individuals traveling from Iran. The rest of the world, and in particular the United States, with its military and nonmilitary personnel based across the Middle East, has a direct interest in containment of this impending pandemic.
The porous borders of Iran and Iraq pose a unique risk for further spread of the virus. Consequences of its spread could include regional unrest, civil war, and economic collapse. Currently, the very stability of the entire Middle East region is at stake. Iran is just a stone’s throw away from regional commercial hubs such as Dubai and the oil fields in Saudi Arabia, which supply a significant share of the global energy market.
Iran’s regime cannot handle the problem itself yet has rejected an offer of humanitarian aid from the U.S. government, calling it “ridiculous.”
The current passive U.S. strategy needs to be replaced with an active one to seize the opportunity to contain or slow the pandemic, save countless lives, and further American interests in the region. U.S. government efforts to deliver medical supplies through neighboring countries should be scaled up, and communicated transparently to the people of Iran. These supplies should include test kits, medical grade face masks, protective equipment, and cardiopulmonary support equipment, including ventilators (for which according to unofficial reports there are severe shortages). Such a move would send a clear signal to dispel the Islamic regime’s “Great Satan” propaganda tropes. Doing so would also negate the favorite talking point of the regime’s sympathizers in the West, who attribute the coronavirus crisis in Iran falsely to U.S. sanctions, not to their own incompetence and disregard for human life.
Lastly, the U.S. government should issue waivers for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other academic experts in epidemiology, virology, pulmonology, infectious diseases, and public health to offer professional guidance and assistance to Iranian clinicians and public health officers.
In short, a proactive humanitarian policy by the U.S. would further discredit the regime’s campaign of disinformation and propaganda and protect the lives of Americans here and abroad. It would emphasize that the current maximum pressure campaign is intended to target the criminal regime and not the people of Iran. The U.S. government can and must do more in response to this unique geopolitical threat brought on by the Islamic Republic’s reckless behavior.
Dr. Daniel Jafari is an Iranian-American physician based in New York. Dr. Reza Behrouz is an Iranian-American physician based in San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Shervan Fashandi is an Iranian-Canadian expert in banking, financial risk, and public policy based in Toronto and New York.
