Europe's biggest drug-maker, Novartis, has said that its Alcon eye-care unit is under U.S. government investigation related to the export of products to Iran for trade sanctions.
Alcon was notified last year that the U.S. Attorney's office in Texas is conducting an investigation into its sales. Interestingly, the subpoena for documents goes back to 2005, years before the current sanctions were enacted.
Most likely, the US government is trying to close the last loophole to medical supplies reaching Iran. While they cannot target sanctions on medicine directly, they are trying to close what Mr. Sahimi described as the only way of buying medicine--sending a person with a suitcase to the pharmaceutical company directly. If companies start to be frightened of selling Iran medicine when a man shows up at their door with a pile of cash, then the theory goes that a complete sanction will exist that brings about more deaths like Manouchehr's and what is hoped will be the eventual bringing down of Iran's government.
This article was first published on The Real Amir Taheri.
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