The Syria Solidarity Movement welcomes the call by 32 members of the US Congress for sanctions relief for Iran. Their letter to Secretaries Pompeo and Mnuchin outlines important reasons for removing restraints on trade with Iran.
Weaponizing the pandemic is brutal, heartless, vicious, and inhumane. It is also foolish and shortsighted, in view of the obvious fact that the COVID-19 refuses to be contained within any borders and will spread to the detriment of all nations, including those who try to use it as a “weapon”. Reducing the sanctions is therefore in the interest of all concerned, and the right way to show our compassion and respect for our brothers and sisters in Iran.
However, the recommended sanctions relief does not go far enough. Sanctions target the weakest population in the sanctioned country. Surely our interests are served best by removing the sanctions entirely and encouraging constructive, rather than destructive, exchanges. These reasons equally justify the removal of sanctions and the cultivation of productive relationship with all the nations against whom the US is imposing sanctions, including Syria, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Russia, China, North Korea and others.
Our security is best protected by assuring that other nations wish us no ill and harbor no resentment against us. The first step towards this goal is to abandon all punitive sanctions against other countries. We can then move on to respecting their sovereignty by removing our troops, and by fostering trade and cultural exchanges.
The Syria Solidarity Movement® therefore recommends expanding the laudable recommendations of the 32 members of Congress to these ends, and thereby bringing closer the day when the world can live in peace and mutual respect.
