DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran has obtained US approval to transfer funds for overseas coronavirus vaccines, the head of the central bank said on Thursday, when its daily death toll had dropped to a three-month low.
Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said an Iranian bank received support from the United States Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to transfer the money to a Swiss bank to pay for vaccines.
“They (Americans) have imposed sanctions on all of our banks. They accepted this one case under pressure from world public opinion, ”Hemmati told state TV.
There was no immediate reaction from the US to Hemmati’s comments.
Hemmati said Iran would pay about $ 244 million for the initial imports of 16.8 million doses of vaccines from COVAX, a multi-agency group dedicated to ensuring fair access to vaccines for low- and middle-income countries.
Iranian officials have repeatedly said that US sanctions are preventing them from making payments to COVAX, of which some 190 economies have already signed.
Iran’s Shifa Pharmed began enrolling volunteers this week for human testing of the country’s first domestic vaccine candidate COVID-19, Iranian media reported, as a dispute between factions appeared to be brewing over the use of imported products.
“We do not recommend the injection of vaccines against foreign coronavirus into the personnel of the Revolutionary Guard and the basij (voluntary militia),” said Iranian media Mohammed Reza Naqdi, deputy head of the Revolutionary Guard.
Ministry of Health spokesman Sima Sadat Lari told state TV earlier that 152 people died of COVID-19 in Iran in the past 24 hours, the lowest number since September 18, bringing the total number of deaths to 54,308 in the country. most affected in the Middle East.
The drop in deaths comes after more than a month of curfews in night traffic and other restrictions in major cities. Police said 96,000 fines were issued across the country on Wednesday for drivers who violated the curfew.
The authorities warned that the danger of a resurgence of infections is great.
U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers in 2018 and imposed new sanctions on the country.
The coming to power of President-elect Joe Biden raised the possibility that Washington would rejoin the agreement.
Dubai newsroom report; Editing by Nick MacfieEditing by Mark Heinrich and Nick Macfie