The Human Cost of “Soft” Power Policies

In December 2019, a distressed family rushed their grandmother to Shariati Hospital in Iran’s capital. She suffered from numerous health problems, including diabetes. The hospital lacked supplies and had no insulin to give her.[1] It asked patients to bring their own gloves, sheets, and syringes. The shortage forced many patients to buy medications on the black market. She died on December 26.*

What is the human cost of soft power policies? The US has continuously implemented extensive economic sanctions on Iran since its 1979 Revolution.[2] In practice, “humanitarian exemptions” that technically allow imports of humanitarian supplies (e.g., medicine and food) are obsolete. Sanctions still deter international institutions from conducting business out of fear of being penalized by the US.[3] This results in shortages of essential medicine, devaluation of currency, and monumental increases in food costs.

Legal obstacles with damning humanitarian ramifications expanded significantly under the Trump administration. Iran remains on the administration’s notorious Muslim ban list where its citizens are deemed a “security or public-safety threat.”[4] Disarray at the ban’s inception caused panic across the globe.[5] This sentiment continues through 2020 as the US repeatedly denies students entry despite valid visas, often without providing reasoning.[6] Its impact continues to keep Iranian-American families apart.[7] And now, during the COVID-19 era, it forces couples into additional isolation—stuck between dreams of prosperity and togetherness.[8] What happened to the “American dream”? The “American family”?

The administration’s addition of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) list[9] broadly expanded possible criminal penalties.[10] It also set the pretext[11] for the illegal assassination of Qassem Soleimani.[12] The US is not at war with Iran, despite escalating conflict and acts of aggression.[13] Nor was Soleimani in the same category as “typical” targets of the US drone-strike program.[14] This assassination instituted an illegal precedent under international law and opened up the US to preemptive strikes against its legitimate officials.[15] The two missiles also killed nine others: four IRGC[16] and five Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) personnel.[17] The US’ ramped up drone program is not new — but that does not negate its immorality especially considering the high probability of civilian and “collateral” casualties.[18]

The US selectively chooses when to uphold and implement human rights around the world.[19] Proclaimed “Iran-hawks” in the Trump administration such as former National Security Advisor John Bolton and current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo project their apparent vendetta against the Islamic Republic in their rhetoric and damning policy initiatives.[20]

The blatant, right-wing hatred of the Iranian regime[21] goes far beyond nuclear deterrence or its sponsorship of terrorism.[22] The Iranian government is by no means innocent. Its human rights record is atrocious.[23] And it notoriously provokes conflict through rhetoric[24] and (sometimes already heightened) military aggression.[25] But in response to the Iranian government’s human rights abuses against its own people, the US constantly institutes harsh sanctions, which have a damning impact on Iranian citizens. Therefore, both the United States and Iran essentially perpetrate human rights abuses against the Iranian people in a form of hypocritical, perverse double-jeopardy.

As of December 2020, the Iranian government proclaimed that the COVID-19 pandemic had infected 25 million[26] and killed at least 14,000 — but likely 48,000 — Iranians.[27] In the midst of this global emergency, the US implemented sweeping sanctions throughout 2020.[28] It now plans a “flood” of new sanctions in coordination with Israel in the weeks until President-elect Biden’s inauguration.[29]

There is extensive evidence of US sanctions historically causing mass starvation and other humanitarian crises.[30] The “maximum pressure”[31] sanctions on Iran instituted since 2018 turn curable diseases terminal.[32] They destroy livelihood by creating a rent crisis of 95 percent cost increases in major cities. [33] They suffocate livable circumstances by causing a 74 percent inflation rate for food-related goods.[34] Over the past two years, ten percent of the Iranian population fell into “absolute poverty.”[35] As COVID-19 ravages through Iran, shortages of diagnostic kits, quality scanners, masks, and essential medicines deprived medical personnel from saving lives and limiting the spread to the best of their ability.[36] With these factors in tandem, it is realistic to conclude that the absolution of these sanctions could have saved thousands of Iranian lives during the pandemic.[37] 

While economic sanctions are a form of “soft power” there is nothing “soft” about them. Lives and livelihood are still consequently lost at the behest of US policy.[38] The United States’ use of the law to consequently institute human rights abuses is unjust and should be reversed.

*This story is a personal account and should not be used for redistribution.

Julia Tedesco is an Online Content Committee staff member of Fordham International Law Journal Volume XLIV.

This is a student blog post and in no way represents the views of the Fordham International Law Journal nor Tedesco’s employer.

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[1] See Golnaz Esfandiari, 'There Is No Insulin': Desperate Iranians Tweet Calls For Life-Saving Drug, Radio-Free Europe (Oct. 21, 2020), https://www.rferl.org/a/there-is-no-insulin-desperate-iranians-tweet-calls-for-life-saving-drug/30905516.html.

[2] See Iran Sanctions, U.S. Dep’t of State, https://www.state.gov/iran-sanctions/ (last visited Dec. 2, 2020).

[3] See Human Rights Watch, “Maximum Pressure” US Economic Sanctions Harm Iranians’ Right to Health 1-8 (2019) https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/iran1019sanctions_web.pdf; Rick Noack, Armand Emamdjomeh & Joe Fox, How U.S. sanctions are paralyzing the Iranian economy, Wash. Post (Jan. 10, 2020), https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/01/10/how-us-sanctions-are-paralyzing-iranian-economy/.

[4] See Trump v. Hawaii, 585 138 S. Ct. 2392, 2423 (2018). See also Proclamation No. 9723, 50 Fed. Reg. 85 FR 6699 (Apr. 10, 2018), https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-maintaining-enhanced-vetting-capabilities-processes-detecting-attempted-entry-united-states-terrorists-public-safety-threats/.

[5] See Ryan Devereaux, Murtaza Hussain, & Alice Speri, Trump’s Muslim Ban Triggers Chaos, Heartbreak, and Resistance, Intercept (Jan. 29 2017), https://theintercept.com/2017/01/29/trumps-muslim-ban-triggers-chaos-heartbreak-and-resistance/.

[6] See generally, Caleb Hampton & Caitlin Dickerson, ‘Demeaned and Humiliated’: What Happened to These Iranians at U.S. Airports, N. Y. Times (Jan. 25, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/25/us/iran-students-deported-border.html.  

[7] See Nilo Tabrizy, How Couples Are Coping With Trump’s Travel Ban, N.Y. Times (Sept. 26, 2017), https://www.nytimes.com/video/world/middleeast/100000005458989/trump-travel-ban-iranians.html?src=vidm. See also Jason Rezaian, Trump’s policies are turning Iranian Americans into second-class citizens, Wash. Post (Feb. 4, 2020), https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/04/trumps-policies-are-turning-iranian-americans-into-second-class-citizens/.

[8] Saeed Jalili & Forough Alaei, Separated Iranian Families Have Been In Self-Isolation For Years, N.Y. Times (Apr. 6, 2020), https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/04/06/trump-travel-muslim-ban-separated-iranian-families-have-self-isolation-for-years/.

[9] See Fact Sheet, U.S. Dep’t of State, Designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Apr. 8, 2019), https://www.state.gov/designation-of-the-islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps/.

[10] See Elena Chachko, The U.S. Names the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a Terrorist Organization and Sanctions the International Criminal Court, Lawfare Blog (Apr. 10, 2019, 4:05 PM), https://www.lawfareblog.com/us-names-iranian-revolutionary-guard-terrorist-organization-and-sanctions-international-criminal.

[11] See Press Release, U.S. Dep’t of Defense (Jan. 2, 2020),  https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2049534/statement-by-the-department-of-defense/. See also Mehrnusch Anssari & Benjamin Nußberger, Compilation of States’ Reactions to U.S. and Iranian Uses of Force in Iraq in January 2020, Just Security (Jan. 22, 2020), https://www.justsecurity.org/68173/compilation-of-states-reactions-to-u-s-and-iranian-uses-of-force-in-iraq-in-january-2020/.

[12] See Karen J. Greenberg, Killing Qassim Suleimani Was Illegal. And Predictable, N.Y. Times (Jan. 6, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/06/opinion/qassim-suleimani.html; Bill Chappell, U.S. Killing Of Iran's Gen. Soleimani 'Was Unlawful,' U.N. Expert Says, NPR (July 7, 2020), https://www.npr.org/2020/07/07/888179625/u-s-killing-of-irans-gen-soleimani-was-unlawful-u-n-expert-says.

[13] See Greenberg, supra note 12. See Peter Beinart, Bolton Keeps Trying to Goad Iran Into War, Atlantic (June 20, 2019),  https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/06/bolton-keeps-trying-goad-iran-war/592108/. See also Kylie Atwood, US official says Israel was behind assassination of Iranian scientist, CNN (Dec. 2, 2020), https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/02/politics/iran-scientist-israel-assassination-us/index.html.

[14] See Siobhán O'Grady, Why Soleimani’s killing is different from other targeted attacks by U.S., Wash. Post (Jan. 4, 2020), https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/01/04/why-soleimanis-killing-is-different-other-targeted-attacks-by-us/. See also Chappell supra note 12.

[15] See Greenberg, supra note 12.

[16] See Amir Havasi, Iran Threatens Revenge As It Mourns Guards Killed By US, Int’l Business Times (Jan. 3, 2020), https://www.ibtimes.com/iran-threatens-revenge-it-mourns-guards-killed-us-2895702.

[17] See US kills top Iranian General Soleimani in Baghdad airstrike, Deutsche Wells (Jan. 3, 2020), https://p.dw.com/p/3Veen; see also Miguel Sagnelli, Revelan el momento del ataque de drones contra el general Soleimani, Vanguardia (Jan. 3, 2020), https://vanguardia.com.mx/articulo/revelan-el-momento-del-ataque-de-drones-contra-el-general-soleimani-video.

[18] Matt Peterson, Is Obama’s Drone War Moral?, Atlantic (Aug. 18, 2016),

 https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/08/obama-drone-morality/496433/

[19] See generally Human Rights Watch, World Report: United States (2019), https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/united-states. See also Spencer Magloff, White House Condemns Iran Executions, CBS News (Jan 28, 2010), https://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-condemns-iran-executions/; 'Execution' of Iranian teenage boys condemned, BBC (May 2, 2019), https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-48133641 (reporting on US condemnations of Iranian executions). But see Zoe Todd, U.S. Weapons, Saudi Airstrikes, Yemeni Deaths: What a U.N. Report on War Crimes in Yemen Means for U.S.-Saudi Weapon Sales, PBS Frontline (Oct. 1, 2019), https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/u-s-weapon-saudi-airstrikes-yemen/ (detailing US weapons sales to Saudi Arabia for its use in the Yemen Crisis).

[20] See Zach Beauchamp, John Bolton and Mike Pompeo are the hawks behind Trump’s Iran policy, Vox (June 21, 2019), https://www.vox.com/world/2019/6/21/18700711/iran-news-trump-john-bolton-mike-pompeo.

[21] See Why Soleimani's death is personal for Pompeo, BBC (Jan. 15, 2020), https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51069090. See also Beinart, supra note 13; Dan Spinelli, John Bolton Has Wanted War With Iran Since Before You Were Born, Mother Jones (May 17, 2019), https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/05/john-bolton-has-wanted-war-with-iran-since-before-you-were-born/.

[22] See Daniel Byman, Is deterrence restored with Iran?, Brookings Institute (Jan. 16, 2020),  https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2020/01/16/is-deterrence-restored-with-iran/

[23] See Amnesty Int’l, Iran 2019 (2019),  https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/iran/report-iran/; Human Rights Watch, Iran Events of 2019 (2019), https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/iran.

[24] See Reuters Staff, Israel will be destroyed in half an hour if America attacks Iran: senior Iranian MP, Reuters (July 1, 2019), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-iran-israel/israel-will-be-destroyed-in-half-an-hour-if-america-attacks-iran-senior-iranian-mp-idUSKCN1TW2MO.

[25] See Joshua Berlinger, et. al., Iran shoots down US drone aircraft, raising tensions further in Strait of Hormuz, CNN (June 20, 2019), https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/20/middleeast/iran-drone-claim-hnk-intl/index.html.

[26] See Reuters Staff, Rouhani says 25 million Iranians may have been infected with coronavirus, Reuters (July 18, 2020), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-iran/rouhani-says-25-million-iranians-may-have-been-infected-with-coronavirus-idUSKBN24J07V.

[27] See Iran: Overview, Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/region/iran (last visited Dec. 2, 2020). (Johns Hopkins reports nearly one million infected and over 48,000 killed Iranians by COVID-19 as of December 2, 2020) [Editor’s Note: This website continuously updates the number of Iranians killed by coronavirus.].

[28] See Iran Sanctions, supra note 2.

[29] See Barak Ravid, Trump administration plans "flood" of sanctions on Iran by Jan. 20, Axios (Nov. 8, 2020), https://www.axios.com/trump-administration-iran-sanctions-january-3951f776-09c9-4e55-b0f5-4a9c80e9e974.html.

[30] See Salil Patel, As a doctor, I see the human cost of America's sanctions on Iran – and it can be as great as war, Independent (Jan. 9, 2020), https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/trump-iran-sanctions-war-soleimani-charity-aid-donate-a9276616.html.

[31] Press Release, U.S. Dep’t of Treasury (Nov. 5, 2018),  https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm541.

[32] See Parsa Erfani & Laila Fozouni, The human cost of sanctions—covid-19 and beyond, BMJ Opinion (Apr. 24, 2020), https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/04/24/the-human-cost-of-sanctions-covid-19-and-beyond/.

[33] See Ahmad Jalalpour, The US Sanctions on Iran Are Causing a Major Humanitarian Crisis, Nation (Jan. 21, 2020),

 https://www.thenation.com/article/world/iran-sanctions-humanitarian-crisis/.

[34] Id.

[35] Id.

[36] See Erin Cunningham, As coronavirus cases explode in Iran, U.S. sanctions hinder its access to drugs and medical equipment, Wash. Post (Mar. 29, 2020), https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/as-coronavirus-cases-explode-in-iran-us-sanctions-hinder-its-access-to-drugs-and-medical-equipment/2020/03/28/0656a196-6aba-11ea-b199-3a9799c54512_story.html.

[37] See Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, Iran: The double jeopardy of sanctions and COVID-19, Brookings (Sept. 23, 2020), https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/iran-the-double-jeopardy-of-sanctions-and-covid-19/.

[38] See Adam Taylor, While coronavirus ravages Iran, U.S. sanctions squeeze it, Wash. Post (Mar. 19, 2020), https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/03/19/while-coronavirus-ravages-iran-us-sanctions-squeeze-it/; Mehdi Hasan, The Coronavirus Is Killing Iranians. So Are Trump’s Brutal Sanctions, The Intercept (Mar. 17, 2020), https://theintercept.com/2020/03/17/coronavirus-iran-sanctions/.