18.11.2025 Published on Al Jazeera: The Human Costs of Economic Sanctions

In a recent opinion piece published on Al Jazeera (12 November 2025), Professor Mohammad Reza Farzanegan, together with Ruth Gibson and Maziar Moradi-Lakeh, argues that economic sanctions often function less like diplomatic tools and more like instruments of “economic warfare” — severely undermining basic healthcare systems in the targeted states.

Drawing on empirical evidence from pre-2015 UN sanctions on Iran, they document how medicine shortages, price spikes (up to 300 % for certain drugs), and systemic overcompliance by banks and companies contributed to a public-health crisis.

They call for a health-conscious foreign policy: establishing independent oversight, real-time monitoring of medicine supply, and robust humanitarian payment channels to ensure that sanctions do not sacrifice civilians’ right to health.

Read the full story at: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/11/12/sanctions-are-not-a-humane-alternative-to-war