“‘The pressure of economic sanctions does show up in the difficulty that, say, Iran has in getting access to medicine and medical devices.’

“Elizabeth Rosenberg is a former senior Treasury official now at the Center for a New American Security. She says international banks and companies worry they’ll be blacklisted by the Trump administration if they do business with Iran. In theory, the U.S. sanctions do allow for items, such as food and medical supplies, to be sold to Iran. But it hasn’t worked out that way…

“Pompeo and President Trump have said the U.S. is willing to help Iran if it asks for assistance. The offer was turned down. Last week, the U.S. Treasury announced it was lifting some terrorism-related sanctions on Iran Central Bank, effectively clearing a path for more international firms to sell medical supplies to Iran. Elizabeth Rosenberg says the U.S. could do more.

“‘It could do other creative things to create legal pathways to send medicine and medical devices to Iran. We haven’t seen that yet, but it’s possible that we could if the U.S. administration is motivated to do so…'”

Read the full transcript here: