South Korea Emerges Testimony to West’s Lies
TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iran says South Korea has rejected a SWIFT payment request by Tehran for purchase of coronavirus testing kits over the U.S. sanctions.
Iran’s Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour late Saturday released a document that shows a Saudi-funded TV had asked a Korean bank to reject the request.
"As a result, the Korean bank rejected Iran’s request and the kits were not delivered to Iran,” he said.
According to the document, London-based Iran International television channel falsely claimed that the SWIFT request had been made by a software company which sought to export non-medical goods to Iran, Press TV reported.
Jahanpour released a second document which shows South Korea’s Mico BioMed, which develops and sells medical kits, had in fact presented the SWIFT request to the bank.
"The SWIFT request related [to Iran’s purchase of test kits] has been rejected by the Korean bank under the pretext of sanctions,” he said.
"This shows claims of medicine and medical equipment not being subject to sanctions are lies. The bank has officially stated that the purchase is not possible due to the sanctions,” Jahanpour added.
Belgium-based SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, is used to transmit payments and letters of credit.
The U.S. government has intensified its sanctions on Iran despite international calls on Washington to suspend them to allow the Islamic Republic to secure necessary medicine and equipment in the midst of the coronavirus fight.
Iran International and some sections of Western and Arab media act as a virtual arm of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) which is responsible for administering the U.S. sanctions regime.
They have been on a witch hunt to identify Iran’s financial institutions and report them to the U.S. government for possible sanctions.
Iran International, launched in May 2017,
is a regular megaphone for separatists and terrorist groups operating against Iran. It is best known for airing disparaging reports about Iran and trying to stoke unrest in the country.
In October 2018, The Guardian cited a source close to the Saudi government as saying that Iran International had received an estimated $250 million from the Saudi royal court for its launch.
Washington claims the sanctions do not target medicine for Iran, but they make it all but impossible for importers to obtain letters of credit or conduct international transfers of funds through banks.
Last week, Iran’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York dismissed the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA) which the Europeans belatedly announced with much fanfare to have made operational in coordination with the US to barter medicine and food with Iran.
The mission said the United States has forced SHTA to pursue a very tight and tough procedure, making it practically very difficult for companies to trade with Iran.
Washington has imposed new sanctions in the midst of the coronavirus, targeting trade with Iran, even as President Donald Trump has claimed that the U.S. was ready to help with the outbreak if Tehran asked for it.
The Islamic Republic has rejected the offer as hypocritical while the U.S. is refusing to lift the sanctions and even intensifying them. Officials have said Washington’s demand that Tehran make a direct plea for the removal of sanctions shows the United States seeks "nothing short of surrender”.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif on Sunday dismissed Trump’s allegation that the U.S. would be willing to send ventilators to Iran to help treat coronavirus patients.
"I have offered to help them (Iran) if they want. If they need ventilators, which they do, I would send them ventilators. We have thousands of excess ventilators. We have a stockpile of ventilators,” the U.S. president said Saturday.
"Iran will be EXPORTING ventilators in a few months, @realdonaldtrump,” exhorting him to avoid interfering in other countries’ affairs,” Zarif tweeted.
"All you need to do is stop interfering in the affairs of other nations; mine especially. And believe me, we do not take advice from ANY American politician,” he added.
Iran’s Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour late Saturday released a document that shows a Saudi-funded TV had asked a Korean bank to reject the request.
"As a result, the Korean bank rejected Iran’s request and the kits were not delivered to Iran,” he said.
According to the document, London-based Iran International television channel falsely claimed that the SWIFT request had been made by a software company which sought to export non-medical goods to Iran, Press TV reported.
Jahanpour released a second document which shows South Korea’s Mico BioMed, which develops and sells medical kits, had in fact presented the SWIFT request to the bank.
"The SWIFT request related [to Iran’s purchase of test kits] has been rejected by the Korean bank under the pretext of sanctions,” he said.
"This shows claims of medicine and medical equipment not being subject to sanctions are lies. The bank has officially stated that the purchase is not possible due to the sanctions,” Jahanpour added.
Belgium-based SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, is used to transmit payments and letters of credit.
The U.S. government has intensified its sanctions on Iran despite international calls on Washington to suspend them to allow the Islamic Republic to secure necessary medicine and equipment in the midst of the coronavirus fight.
Iran International and some sections of Western and Arab media act as a virtual arm of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) which is responsible for administering the U.S. sanctions regime.
They have been on a witch hunt to identify Iran’s financial institutions and report them to the U.S. government for possible sanctions.
Iran International, launched in May 2017,
is a regular megaphone for separatists and terrorist groups operating against Iran. It is best known for airing disparaging reports about Iran and trying to stoke unrest in the country.
In October 2018, The Guardian cited a source close to the Saudi government as saying that Iran International had received an estimated $250 million from the Saudi royal court for its launch.
Washington claims the sanctions do not target medicine for Iran, but they make it all but impossible for importers to obtain letters of credit or conduct international transfers of funds through banks.
Last week, Iran’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York dismissed the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA) which the Europeans belatedly announced with much fanfare to have made operational in coordination with the US to barter medicine and food with Iran.
The mission said the United States has forced SHTA to pursue a very tight and tough procedure, making it practically very difficult for companies to trade with Iran.
Washington has imposed new sanctions in the midst of the coronavirus, targeting trade with Iran, even as President Donald Trump has claimed that the U.S. was ready to help with the outbreak if Tehran asked for it.
The Islamic Republic has rejected the offer as hypocritical while the U.S. is refusing to lift the sanctions and even intensifying them. Officials have said Washington’s demand that Tehran make a direct plea for the removal of sanctions shows the United States seeks "nothing short of surrender”.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif on Sunday dismissed Trump’s allegation that the U.S. would be willing to send ventilators to Iran to help treat coronavirus patients.
"I have offered to help them (Iran) if they want. If they need ventilators, which they do, I would send them ventilators. We have thousands of excess ventilators. We have a stockpile of ventilators,” the U.S. president said Saturday.
"Iran will be EXPORTING ventilators in a few months, @realdonaldtrump,” exhorting him to avoid interfering in other countries’ affairs,” Zarif tweeted.
"All you need to do is stop interfering in the affairs of other nations; mine especially. And believe me, we do not take advice from ANY American politician,” he added.