Medact calls on UK government to de-escalate Iran-US political situation

On the 3rd of January 2020, Iranian general Qassem Soleimani was assassinated alongside four others in a targeted US drone strike in Baghdad. This assassination has accelerated and exacerbated already deteriorating foreign relations, including further threats of military action and Iran joining the US in abrogating on the Iran Nuclear Deal.

This deterioration in foreign relations, and the possible political and humanitarian consequences of further military action taken in Iran and/or Iraq, are causes for great concern.

Medact has written to Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary Dominic Raab MP calling on him to ensure that the UK does not join any possible military action in the Middle East; that the UK instead uses diplomatic measures to de-escalate the current situation; and, that the UK leads the call for both the US and Iran to return to the original commitments of the Iran Nuclear Deal.

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Medact produced a health impact assessment of any potential military action against Iran in 2013: ‘Predicting the Unthinkable: health impact assessment and conflict’