[act-ma] 4/22 Iran Coronavirus crisis

[Charlie Welch]

*COVID-19 Emergency in Iran: the reality on the ground and the role of 
U.S. sanctions*

*Wednesday, April 22 @ 7pm – 8pm*

*A Webinar with up to date information that all Americans need to know. *

Sponsored by the Mass. Peace Action Middle East Working Group

*Register Here:*https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qYFHTVihQhqLeIduPICCeA

Dr. Amin Feizpour is the founder and manager of the Iran Circle 
<https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Firancircle.org%2F&data=02%7C01%7CPShannon%40afsc.org%7C41e97de08e624d2f48bb08d7df63e45b%7Cbdb9059779bc47b8adec787f4e42aa8a%7C0%7C0%7C637223492447868622&sdata=WU6LH2lcC5tP0yMEvY8lqArBRX%2FgWy9oYSPPCKq%2BZ7s%3D&reserved=0>in 
Boston, a session series focused on hosting academic scholars to present 
their Iran-related research in Farsi to the Iranian general public for 
long-term cultural development for Iranian society. Among his degrees 
are a PhD in physical chemisty  from B.U., a Masters degree in 
biomedical engineering from Tehran Polytechnic and a postdoctoral 
fellowship in medical imaging at Mass. General Hospital.

Donna Farvard is the National Organizing Director for NIAC, the National 
Iranian-American Council where she works to organize and empower Iranian 
Americans across the country.  joined NIAC’s staff in May 2017 and works 
to organize and empower Iranian Americans across the country. In the 
past she has worked organizing students as a campus organizer with the 
student PIRGs and the Climate Reality Campus Corps.

Donna Farvard and Dr. Feizpour will speak to the role played by U.S. 
sanctions in the dire crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic now 
ravaging Iran’s people. Recent research studies indicate that the 
infection and death rates in Iran are many times higher than the 
reported rates. Besides the government’s mismanagement of the early 
phase of the pandemic, the major reason for such a drastic difference 
between the formal and actual statistics of COVID-19 spread in Iran has 
been the low capacity for testing the infected and dead individuals. 
With Iran’s health system overwhelmed by a growing population of 
infected people, some studies now predict the death of 50 thousand to 
100 thousand Iranians from the virus during the next several months. The 
Iranian healthcare system's extremely low capacity for testing and 
inability to import vital medical technologies is directly caused by the 
US-imposed sanctions on the country's financial activities. In addition, 
the unprecedented economic pressure on the government has left people 
with no hope for financial support and, hence, closing the non-essential 
businesses and implementation of the social distancing policies are not 
practically possible. Therefore, an immediate alleviation of the 
sanctions, in any possible capacity, is essential for preventing the 
death of many thousands of ordinary (especially lower class) citizens of 
Iran in the next few months.

*Register here: *

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qYFHTVihQhqLeIduPICCeA

for information: 617-623-5288, MAPA Middle East Working Group