Such arguments are specious in these terrible times. Iran has been overwhelmed by confirmed cases and fatalities, and they’re climbing by the day — and that’s according to the Iranian government’s dubious numbers. The reality may be far worse. Iran has appealed to the International Monetary Fund for $5 billion in emergency funding and a long list of essential equipment ranging from gloves and masks to portable respirators. It should get all this immediately.

No, the United States and its sanctions are not responsible for the rapid spread of the coronavirus in Iran, as Iranian hard-liners have claimed, though the economic hardships from the sanctions could not have helped. Last year, before the current crisis, Human Rights Watch wrote in a report that sanctions had “drastically constrained the ability of the country to finance humanitarian imports, including medicines.” But the Iranian government carries primary responsibility for the plague by initially denying the outbreak and then reacting far too slowly.

The Trump administration says it has offered to help the “Iranian people” and to facilitate the delivery of medical supplies to Iran. But the offer is said to carry many conditions, and importers say they still have a major problem finding banks willing to maneuver through the daunting compliance processes to finance the trade.

In any case, piling on more sanctions while Iran bleeds is morally wrong and looks terrible.

Setting aside arguments over whether scuttling the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran and resuming sanctions made sense to begin with — this editorial board argued that it did not — the crisis should be treated by President Trump as a diplomatic opportunity.

On the most elemental level of humanitarian compassion, the United States should be at the forefront of offering what help it can. That may not mean sending medical supplies like respirators, which are in short supply everywhere, but at the least it should mean clearing the way for the I.M.F. loan.