“It’s an act of moral cowardice to cause a patient to lose his/her life through warfarin (a medication) shortage,” Pezeshkian said. “If you have problems with politicians, then how come you wreak vengeance on innocent people?” he asked empathically.

The top lawmaker, a heart surgeon who served as health minister in the Khatami administration, also called on Iranian authorities to back the domestic pharmaceutical industry in order to supply the basic medical needs of the country.

“The primary sanctions taught us to meet the needs of our people as far as we can; the current sanctions must be teaching us to become self-sufficient as much as possible,” the highly-respected reformist lawmaker noted.