Rouhani: U.S. Denying Iran Access to Virus Vaccines
TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- President Hassan Rouhani said Thursday the economic war waged by the United States against Iran has totally failed and all measures taken by Washington to bring Tehran to its knees have been proven futile.
Rouhani made the remarks in an address via videoconference to the 10th summit of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, also known as Developing-8.
"Here, I am honored to announce that all illegal unilateral measures taken by the United States to bring the Iranian nation to its knees have failed,” the president told the D-8 participants.
"Despite suffering heavy economic pressures, we have been able by relying on our own domestic will and capabilities to break remarkable grounds in various fields, including in the field of fighting the COVID-19 and its aftereffects,” he said.
Rouhani said while the world economy shrank by 3.5 percent and many countries experienced negative economic growth of five to 10 percent, the Iranian economy grew by more than 2 percent in the same period.
This clearly attests to the failure of the United States in its economic war against Iran, he added.
"In the last four years, the international community has witnessed the intensification of the U.S. government’s economic war against Iran. These cruel sanctions have caused great damage to our country,” Rouhani noted.
Rouhani further denounced unilateralism and economic terrorism as issues that go hand in hand with the coronavirus in harming the international community.
These actions, he continued, not only illegally target ruling governments and independent nations, but also pose a serious threat to the achievements of the international community.
The Iranian president also pointed to the issue of organized Islamophobia in the world, saying that in addition to targeting Islam’s lofty values and dignity, Islamophobia has also had far-reaching negative economic impacts on Islamic countries.
Separately, Rouhani said the United States blocked Iran’s access to ten million doses of a coronavirus vaccine by pressuring the companies involved in the transferring of the vaccines to Iran.
"We have done what we should have done. We bought vaccines from India and we paid for it, but then they said ‘our Judiciary has gotten in the way and we cannot give you the vaccines,’” he said
during a video conference call on Thursday during a ceremony to inaugurate five national knowledge-based and innovative projects.
Rouhani cited U.S. officials’ admission of the failure of the so-called maximum pressure policy and said the whole world, as well as the new U.S. administration, acknowledges that the policy has brought about a harsh defeat for Washington.
He said importing vaccines is not an easy job to do, stressing that "wherever there is a vaccine, we immediately provide money to purchase it.”
"I want to say that this is not a simple matter,” he said. "The administration, the Health Ministry and the Central Bank have taken all the necessary measures … and I stress that nothing comes before the issue of vaccines for us.”
The president noted that Iran has bought 16.8 million doses of vaccines via the World Health Organization’s COVAX global vaccine scheme, which is being gradually imported into the country.
Iran was among the front-runners in placing an early order to purchase vaccines, he said.
According to President Rouhani, Iran encountered numerous problems in transferring money to buy vaccines from the COVAX initiative. "We have money in foreign banks, but they are all frozen up by US sanctions,” he said.
Rouhani made the remarks in an address via videoconference to the 10th summit of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, also known as Developing-8.
"Here, I am honored to announce that all illegal unilateral measures taken by the United States to bring the Iranian nation to its knees have failed,” the president told the D-8 participants.
"Despite suffering heavy economic pressures, we have been able by relying on our own domestic will and capabilities to break remarkable grounds in various fields, including in the field of fighting the COVID-19 and its aftereffects,” he said.
Rouhani said while the world economy shrank by 3.5 percent and many countries experienced negative economic growth of five to 10 percent, the Iranian economy grew by more than 2 percent in the same period.
This clearly attests to the failure of the United States in its economic war against Iran, he added.
"In the last four years, the international community has witnessed the intensification of the U.S. government’s economic war against Iran. These cruel sanctions have caused great damage to our country,” Rouhani noted.
Rouhani further denounced unilateralism and economic terrorism as issues that go hand in hand with the coronavirus in harming the international community.
These actions, he continued, not only illegally target ruling governments and independent nations, but also pose a serious threat to the achievements of the international community.
The Iranian president also pointed to the issue of organized Islamophobia in the world, saying that in addition to targeting Islam’s lofty values and dignity, Islamophobia has also had far-reaching negative economic impacts on Islamic countries.
Separately, Rouhani said the United States blocked Iran’s access to ten million doses of a coronavirus vaccine by pressuring the companies involved in the transferring of the vaccines to Iran.
"We have done what we should have done. We bought vaccines from India and we paid for it, but then they said ‘our Judiciary has gotten in the way and we cannot give you the vaccines,’” he said
during a video conference call on Thursday during a ceremony to inaugurate five national knowledge-based and innovative projects.
Rouhani cited U.S. officials’ admission of the failure of the so-called maximum pressure policy and said the whole world, as well as the new U.S. administration, acknowledges that the policy has brought about a harsh defeat for Washington.
He said importing vaccines is not an easy job to do, stressing that "wherever there is a vaccine, we immediately provide money to purchase it.”
"I want to say that this is not a simple matter,” he said. "The administration, the Health Ministry and the Central Bank have taken all the necessary measures … and I stress that nothing comes before the issue of vaccines for us.”
The president noted that Iran has bought 16.8 million doses of vaccines via the World Health Organization’s COVAX global vaccine scheme, which is being gradually imported into the country.
Iran was among the front-runners in placing an early order to purchase vaccines, he said.
According to President Rouhani, Iran encountered numerous problems in transferring money to buy vaccines from the COVAX initiative. "We have money in foreign banks, but they are all frozen up by US sanctions,” he said.