A bitter pill to swallow

by Gareth Smith December 1, 2012

written by Gareth Smith December 1, 2012

The death last month of Manouchehr Esmaili-Liousi, a 15-year-old boy suffering from hemophilia, has been reported in the Iranian media as the first fatality caused by the latest financial sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union. While sanctions do not directly target Iranian pharmacies or the wider medical sector, 75 percent of the medicines for treating hemophilia are made in the US and the EU, and supplies have dropped by two-thirds. Drugs are also in short supply for patients suffering from cancer and multiple sclerosis. The problem is that Iran’s central bank, the only official channel for transferring money abroad, is a major target of sanctions. Many international private banks are increasingly loath to handle transactions or accounts in any way linked to Iran, given the risk of attracting attention from the US Treasury Department. Without a doubt, 2012 has seen an unprecedented tightening of the noose around

Gareth Smith

Gareth Smith was a distinguished journalist who reported from the Middle East for over two decades. He served as the Financial Times correspondent in Tehran, where he was the chief Iran correspondent from 2003, following his earlier role as Lebanon correspondent. Throughout his career, Smith covered Middle Eastern affairs for leading media outlets, including The Financial Times, The Guardian, and the BBC. He also contributed as an editor to Executive magazine. His work as a freelance journalist in the 1990s, focusing on the politics of Iran and Iraq, paved the way for his appointment at the FT. In 2009, he relocated to the west coast of Ireland, where he balanced freelance journalism with his passion for nature and the land.

A bitter pill to swallow

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