Press TV - The United States claims it has decided to facilitate sales of food and medicine to Iran which is struggling under the draconian American sanctions.���

The US Treasury Department announced on Friday it had�created a new humanitarian mechanism to ensure shipments of food and medicine can continue to be delivered to Iran.

The Treasury said it would allow "permissible trade" to support the Iranian people while maintaining its �maximum pressure� policy against the Iranian government.

However, critics believe the new method is a political ruse, calling the purpoted humanitarian channel �a farce�.

The new method asks foreign governments and banks to submit monthly detailed reports on humanitarian exports to Iran. Washington says this way foreign governments will certify that their transactions are in compliance with US sanctions against Iran.

But, that�s a point critics refer to as the main burden hindering humanitarian trade with Iran.

The US, under President Donald Trump, unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal in May 2018 in defiance of global objections and unleashed a �maximum pressure� campaign against Iran.

As part of the campaign, the United States�has imposed the �toughest ever��sanctions targeting the Iranian economy in order to force Tehran into submitting to Washington's�"excessive" demands.

Back in September, Iran's ambassador and permanent representative to the UN office in Geneva lashed out at the US for imposing cruel sanctions against Iran, warning that the negative consequences of such measures would turn them�into a �crime against humanity.�

The Iranian envoy called on other countries to adopt measures in order to neutralize the impacts of sanctions, and stressed the necessity for a global consensus on opposition to extra-territorial implementation of illegal bans.

While Washington claims its harsh sanctions against Iran would not target the flow of medicine and other humanitarian necessities into Iran, banking sanctions are in fact increasing import prices, blocking supply chains, and creating deadly drug shortages in the country.

Iranian companies, even those not blacklisted by the US, are often cold-shouldered by European banks, fearing secondary US sanctions.

Their imports of medicines and medical instruments require paying exorbitant sums to intermediaries, which prohibitively yanks up the value of needed supplies.