Iran Sanctions

As you all know, we have had presentations for the past week or two relation to civil liberties in times of peril. Whether or not you think that we are currently in times of peril, I think that the situation that is going on in the Middle East currently is a direct threat to our national security. Due to the instability in Iran and Israel too, there is no doubt in any leaders’ minds that a conflict in the Middle East could escalate quickly, and that the US may have to get involved in one.

To contain an outbreak of conflict in Iran specifically, the US has sanctioned Iran’s economy. The US feels the need to sanction Iran because they are afraid that Iran is planning on using its fissile nuclear materials for nuclear weapon capabilities. Some think that sanctioning Iran economically will decrease their will to build and use nuclear weapons. There is a different effect occurring in Iran, however.

The sanctions have been so powerful that it has affected the economy to such an extent that medicine prices have skyrocketed. This means that businesses can't buy enough medicine to supply its demand. Specifically, a drug that helps curb the effects of cancer is diminishing in Iran. This is causing six million patients in Iran to be treated insufficiently. How can we justify these sanctions when it is effecting the regular population? Are these sanctions too effective perhaps, why or why not?