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Helping Iran fight coronavirus — waste of money

Not for a second would we say that no one should help Iranians ward off the coronavirus, given Iran’s genocidal plans for Israel and bellicose plans for Saudi Arabia, Syria and many other Middle Eastern countries. Humanitarian needs take precedence. Not to mention, many Iranians suffering from the coronavirus are not running the country’s fanatical, Islamic government.

The question is, where will aid to Iran’s coronavirus victims or coronavirus-fighting efforts go? Will this aid serve the humanitarian purpose for which it is intended?

One need not speculate. One need not guess.

Last Monday, March 2, Britain, France and Germany announced that they were sending 5 million euros ($5.5 million) in aid to Iran to help the country deal with its outbreak. Iran, after China and along with South Korea and Italy, is one of the hardest hit countries by the spreading virus.

Exactly four days before the European humanitarian gesture — on Thursday, February 27, to be exact — Israel seized $4 million en route from Iran to Gaza to “develop Hamas’ terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, including the production of weapons and payment to the organization’s activists,” according to Israel’s Ministry of Defense.

There is no reason to doubt the Israeli report, as Iran has boasted for years of its support for Hamas and for its terrorist attacks. Iran has boasted for years of its desire to destroy Israel. Iran has held for years a “Holocaust contest” to identify the best cartoon poking fun at the Holocaust. Iran has diverted the hundreds of millions of dollars it received under the 2015 nuclear deal to terrorist efforts and the development of missiles capable of delivering a nuclear weapon.

Where does this leave Britain, France and Germany, and their generous $5.5 million aid to fight the coronavirus in Iran?

Is it only for these donor countries that these numbers do not add up?

When a country such as Iran is ruled by a supreme religious ideology and a totalitarian government, everything else, including the health of its citizens, becomes secondary. Even as Iran is facing a heightened health crisis — which it does not seem to have under control — Iran prioritizes sending $4 million abroad — right in the midst of the health crisis — in service of hatred and terrorism, in allegiance to its Islamic Revolution, in perpetuation of the suffering of Palestinians, in hopes of inflicting suffering on Israelis.

All this, Iran prioritizes over the health of its own citizens. Even the prioritizers prioritize hatred over health. As of this writing, no less than 23 out of Iran’s 290 Members of Parliament have the coronavirus. They are the ones sending $4 million to Hamas in order to help it kill Israeli civilians and to divert it from critical Palestinian needs.

Britain, France and Germany should have saved themselves the $5.5 million. It’s gone to waste. It’s served no humanitarian purpose.

The only country that can help Iran is Iran. It is the only country that can change its own priorities.

Copyright © 2020 by the Intermountain Jewish News




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