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NCRI Staff<\/p>\n
NCRI –\u00a0Apologists for the Iranian Regime are claiming that US sanctions are stopping humanitarian aid from reaching the victims of this month\u2019s earthquake on the Iran-Iraq border but this is simply not true.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, November 12, a massive earthquake hit the border region leaving hundreds dead and thousands wounded, and hundreds of thousands homeless. It is no less than a nationwide crisis.<\/p>\n
Shortly after, Trita Parsi, the president of National Iranian American Council (NIAC), which is effectively a mouthpiece for the Regime, took advantage of the disaster to suit his own political agenda.<\/p>\n
He said: “If sanctions are really hindering emergency aid after an earthquake, I think that really shows the problematic aspect of the sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n
While it is true that aid is not being distributed to the affected people, it is not due to US sanctions. The sanctions relief granted under the 2015 nuclear deal was funnelled into the army and Iran’s expansionist policies, meaning that in times of crisis, the Iranian people are left to fend for themselves.<\/p>\n
Indeed, images and videos from the devastated areas show victims left to spend the night in freezing temperatures without so much as tents or blankets. In one of many videos criticising the Regime, a father whose son was crushed in the rubble accuses the Regime of sending aid abroad but neglecting its own people.<\/p>\n
One member of the Regime\u2019s Parliament from Kermanshah, who puts the death toll at over 1,000, reported that only 10% of the affected areas have received the smallest amount of help.<\/p>\n
In response to the quake, the Regime sent in their infamous Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) militia but not to distribute aid, as a country\u2019s army often does in disasters, but to prevent protests. They even declared the rescue operation finished on the second day after the quake.<\/p>\n
The Iranian Regime is responsible for the extent of the disaster (by building substandard houses in the first place) and for not getting aid to the victims (because they are more concerned with suppressing social protests than helping their own people).<\/p>\n