TEHRAN, Dec 27, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday
that Washington was demanding Iranian transactions for novel coronavirus
vaccines pass through US banks, and expressed fear the money could be seized.
US President Donald Trump has imposed wave after wave of sanctions on the
Islamic republic since 2018, when he unilaterally withdrew from the Iran
nuclear deal.
Iran has assets frozen in several countries, including in the US.
“We want to transfer money from a country where our money is” to buy the
vaccine and “this country has accepted”, Rouhani said during a meeting of
Iran’s coronavirus task force, without identifying the country in question.
In theory, medicines are exempt from the sanctions, but in reality,
international banks tend to turn down transactions involving Iran to avoid
being exposed to potential litigation.
The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control had initially indicated
that “it didn’t have a problem” with such a transfer of funds, he said.
But “it said later that the money had to first pass through a US bank
before being transferred” for the vaccine purchase, Rouhani said.
In April, the Iranian president said the country had won a legal “victory”
over $1.6 billion of its assets that had long been frozen on a US request in
Luxembourg.
“Who can trust people like you? You have stolen our money everywhere you
found it,” Rouhani said Saturday, addressing the US administration.
The Islamic republic has been battling the Middle East’s deadliest outbreak
of the novel coronavirus since February, with almost 1,195,000 cases and over
54,500 deaths, according to official figures.
Health Minister Saeed Namaki said early this month that Iran had “pre-
purchased” about 16.8 million vaccine doses “via COVAX”, without specifying
which vaccine.
COVAX is an international initiative that aims to ensure equitable access
to coronavirus vaccines for all countries.
The vaccine purchase “could be more costly and be delayed, but it will
certainly happen”, Rouhani said Saturday.
Iran has also called for volunteers for the start of clinical trials for
its own vaccine, which it began to develop in the spring, the health ministry
said.