Iran: Cancer patients report price hikes and shortages after US sanctions reinstated

Iran’s cancer patients have been finding it more and more difficult to receive treatment and buy medication due to the recently re-imposed US sanctions, footage filmed in Tehran on Monday reveals.
Ali Kazemian, Chief of the Imam Khomeini Cancer institute, explained that the sanctions are blocking citizens from transferring money to foreign countries, hence making it impossible to buy certain medication and medical devices.
“Many devices are not given all of their parts, which means that without the parts, it is obvious that the devices will not work and become outdated,” he said, adding “these sanctions which are somehow types of sanctions for non-military consumption are non-humanitarian."
Another cancer patient, Ali Shokri, saw his treatment costs doubling over the past few weeks in the wake of the reinstatement of US sanctions on the country.
"My chemotherapy costs were ten million Rial (211 EUR) before, but now, for each time of chemotherapy, the cost is twenty million Rial (422 EUR), and drugs cannot be found easily like and we have to look for them several times in different pharmacies."
The US reinstated all the sanctions it had previously lifted as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or Iran nuclear deal, on Monday. The sanctions target Iran's oil, banking and shipping industries and the Trump administration has also promised to institute harsh penalties for any other states that continue to conduct trade with the country.