In an article published on The Guardian on Saturday, Hanachi wrote, “To many of us urban administrators in Iran, the onslaught of coronavirus has underscored an important fact of life: no town, city or nation can be indifferent to global crises, even in far-flung corners of our world.”
“Indeed, while the mantra of good governance over the past century has been to ‘think global, act local’, we must today think and act both locally and globally,” he added.
The Tehran mayor noted that “Unfortunately, the small-mindedness that has dominated the politics of various countries in past years has not dissipated. Rather, those who have aggressively advocated the pursuit of narrowly defined ‘national interests’ at any cost are doubling down. The consequences of this posturing are many.”
Hanachi said while it is doubtless that “there are things that could do differently, like every country in the world, we are operating against the backdrop of the most extreme sanctions regime in history.”
“The US embargo not only prohibits American companies and individuals from conducting lawful trade with Iranian counterparts but given that the sanctions are extra-territorial, all other countries and companies are also bullied into refraining from doing legitimate business with Iranians, even the selling of medicines.”
As a result, Hanachi wrote, “the ability of my colleagues and I to provide the health, logistical and other essential infrastructure necessary to combat the disease has been drastically reduced. We experience this loss every day, and it can be counted in people that would not have died.”
He lambasted the “unjust treatment of Iran” saying that such approach has come about via the policies of one country – the United States – whose ruling administration does not seem to prioritize even its own national interests, but instead the narrow interests of a governing party.”
According to him, “The outcome of such irresponsible policies and behavior is not limited to Iran; they have also inflicted harm on the American public.”
“Indeed, the Donald Trump administration’s refusal to halt its economic warfare against Iran is directly impeding our efforts to deal with a virus which knows no borders,” he wrote asking that “Is it in the US’s national interest for the coronavirus pandemic to become permanent?”
Noting that “the path to pursuing national interests is not separate or contrary to that of global interests and international accountability," Hanachi urged the world leaders and politicians to come to a collective understanding of the matter in order to better confront the new global crisis.
The Tehran mayor noted that “Of equal importance, it must be recognized that as long as the general consensus in international politics does not actively move toward reducing injustice and inequality beyond national and racial boundaries, global crises will continue to indiscriminately endanger every country in the world.”
“The world cannot go on like this. If global leaders fail to seize the opportunity to embrace change, we will all continue to remain highly vulnerable to communicable diseases, environmental catastrophes, global warming, terrorism, violent extremism and other shared threats,” he concluded.
MNA/PR