A total of 438 Iranian plaintiffs had lodged a complaint against 17 natural and legal American persons for their role in the unilateral coercive measures against Iran that have had adverse effects on the treatment of thalassemia patients.

The 55th branch of the Justice Administration of Tehran for International Affairs ruled on Wednesday that the defendants, including the US government and officials, must pay a total of $12.615 billion in compensation for the physical and mental damages to the Iranian patients for imposing sanctions.

The judge ruled that the primary and secondary sanctions imposed by the US against Iran have disrupted the delivery of thalassemia medications to the Iranian patients, forcing them to take low-quality medicine that have worsened the symptoms of their illness and incurred exorbitant treatment costs on them.

According to the ruling, the US sanctions have also caused trauma to the Iranian thalassemia patients, since the emotional and mental harms have limited their social relations and deprived them of equal opportunities.

Thalassemia is a chronic blood disorder that prevents the body from producing enough hemoglobin. Thalassemia usually requires lifelong treatment with blood transfusions and medicine.

An Iranian Health Ministry official announced in May 2024 that around 18,800 patients are diagnosed with thalassemia in the country, 15,500 of whom have thalassemia major, an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by absent or severely deficient synthesis of hemoglobin resulting in severe anemia that requires lifelong blood transfusions.