The United States agreed to unblock Iran's assets so that the country can purchase coronavirus vaccines. This was stated by the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Abdulnasser Hemmati, quoted by Reuters.
“The Americans themselves imposed sanctions on all our banks. They made this exception simply because they felt pressure from the international community, ”Hemmati said.
In fact, Washington just let Tehran fight the spread of COVID-19. Iran's central bank allegedly received permission from the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury to transfer money to a Swiss bank. Thus, Tehran can pay for the supply of the vaccine.
Iran is now about to pay about $ 244 million to import the first 16.8 million doses of the vaccine. Iranian company Shifa Pharmed is also starting trials of its own drug. Such a coincidence is likely related to a brewing dispute among the Iranian authorities. Some of them consider it permissible to purchase foreign vaccines, but another part – mainly among members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – is afraid to use someone else's drugs.