In Luxembourg, Tehran scored a victory in its court case over $1.6 billion of Iranian funds that were frozen earlier at the request of the United States. In particular, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani noted that the country was able to triumph in the European Court of Justice against Washington’s attempt to block and confiscate Tehran’s assets in order to transfer them, supposedly, to victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks.
In this regard, it is worth recalling that, in 2012, a New York Court ruled that Iran must pay $7 billion in damages in connection with the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack for helping Al-Qaeda militants (banned in Russia) pass through its territory, as the US alleged. Tehran denied these charges, and refused to pay the money. Furthermore, since 2017, citing international law, Tehran has been trying actively to regain control of these funds. Until now, however, all its attempts have been in vain, despite the absurdity of Washington’s statements. Additionally, billions of dollars of Iran’s funds are still frozen in the USA and Europe, which is a gross violation of all international rules and regulations.
It is important for Iran to obtain its own frozen funds, especially now, when this coronavirus came out of nowhere to increase everyone’s misery. President Hassan Rouhani announced that the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has started a movement to nullify US sanctions, pending the coronavirus pandemic. “We are making attempts to release our frozen funds in various countries, and good steps are being taken in this direction,” he said. Earlier, Abdolnaser Hemmati, the head of Iran’s Central Bank, said that part of the country’s frozen funds in the US will be released gradually to improve people’s lives amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
During a Cabinet of ministers meeting, President Hassan Rouhani also touched upon measures taken to combat COVID-19, asserting that people are in relatively good condition, and that their urgent needs are being met. He added that there are no shortages of hospital beds, doctors, and nurses. He made special note of the harshness of some of the decisions being taken to fight the deadly disease, but these decisions, however, have been focused only on protecting people’s lives.
But, as the wise saying goes, “Nothing is hidden that will not be revealed.” So, no matter how hard the US leadership and the CIA tried to shirk responsibility for creation of the coronavirus, which the world’s media have been widely reporting for the second straight month, they fell flat on their faces, and all their secrets came to light. Sleuthing journalists discovered that the US Patent and Trademark Office, two years ago, had issued a patent for the design of a coronavirus to a company closely associated with the CIA. The source of the emergence of the COVID-19 coronavirus is not the Chinese city of Wuhan, but the Bio Lab of the US Army at Fort Detrick, according to Larry Romanoff, a well-informed columnist of the Canadian research center, Global Research. He cited research by Japanese and Taiwanese epidemiologists.
And everything fell into its proper place. Then, seizing an opportune moment, “knights of the cloak and dagger”, who were embedded with the US military delegation that took part in the Wuhan Military World Games in the second half of October, “under the watchful eye” of the British, who are sophisticated in their poisoning techniques, scattered this deadly infection around. Suffice it to say that the Pentagon sent a previously unheard of number of teams to China for the games – 17. Purportedly, these included more than 280 army athletes. The Chinese authorities published these data, and faulted Washington entirely. Washington’s representative, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, tried clumsily to absolve his former subordinates.
But Donald Trump can be regarded convincingly as the main beneficiary of the search for “ethnicity” of the virus. He seems to have received a second wind before the upcoming elections. First of all, the epidemic suits perfectly the present administration’s main political slogan, which boils down to, “It’s all China’s fault. China must be punished. Only then will we make America great again.” Additionally, this does not appear so out of reach, since the US has a fairly extensive network of military laboratories around the world, where biological weapons are developed, with various viruses created and studied. They are located mainly in the former Soviet Union and South-East Asia. China is surrounded by American military laboratories from Asia and South-East Asia. To the west of China, laboratories are located in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and, Pakistan. But the closest are located to the south of China, in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, and Malaysia.
By taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic, the US leadership is trying literally to strangle Iran, to bring the Iranian people to their knees. Even hardline politicians often modify their stance when faced with the reality of emerging problems, but the White House has demonstrated otherwise.
The Secretary General of the Red Crescent Society, Mahmoud Reza Peyravi, described to the world in detail, and with knowledge of the subject, the role of the US government’s harsh sanctions and inhumane measures to limit humanitarian aid to the Islamic Republic during the present disasters. Secondary sanctions, tied to US relations with European and Asian countries, hindered aid and even restricted the purchase of necessary medical equipment and medicines. Nonmonetary aid was rendered by other countries with almost no problems. Delivery of the necessary equipment, however, also encountered huge problems through fault of the US. For example, the Red Cross, individuals, volunteers, humanitarian organizations, and also Iranians living abroad, were unable to render financial aid to Iran. According to UN resolutions, medical supplies, medicines, and spare parts for civilian aircraft should not be subject to sanctions. Since they require funding, however, receiving the supplies has become difficult due to Washington’s actions. Tehran expects the international community to insist on a change in US behavior to prevent human rights violations during the coronavirus epidemic.
Victor Mikhin, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.
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