Business Insider: As coronavirus spreads, the world is turning on Trump over his favorite foreign-policy weapon
By Christopher Woody
“The administration is leaning on this argument that humanitarian aid is exempted from the sanctions, but sanctions more broadly have a chilling effect on how the international community is willing to deal with countries like” North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela, said Ned Price, a National Security Council official during the Obama administration, on a conference call hosted last week by the Jewish Democratic Council of America.
“Despite the humanitarian carve-outs and exemptions, you will find a great deal of hesitation and trepidation on the part of the international community to actually provide that [aid] for fear that they might run afoul of US sanctions,” Price said. “I think that’s a huge challenge and part of the reason these countries are not going to get the aid they need.”