Iran’s top leader “No US-British vaccine imports”… With a new variable

-Iran’s top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced that he would not import a new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) vaccine from the US and UK. As vaccine imports became difficult, the options were narrowed down to vaccines made in China and Russia, and the possibility of presenting new guidelines on how to utilize the export funds of crude oil tied to Korea increased.

According to Reuters, etc., on the 8th, Hamenei announced a ban on imports, saying, “I cannot trust the corona 19 vaccines produced in the United States and the United Kingdom” through a TV speech. He criticized, “If the Corona 19 vaccine developed in the United States or the United Kingdom had been effective in suppressing the spread, there would have been no social confusion.”

Hamenei said, “If you develop a vaccine in another country that you can trust, you will be able to import the vaccine,” said Iran’s state-run pharmaceutical company Sifa Parmed, which began phase 1 clinical trials last month. It does not specify a trusted country, but it can be interpreted as referring to China and Russia, which are vaccine development countries among Iran’s allies. The Iranian government has negotiated with a commercial bank in Korea to pay some of the costs to be paid to the COVAX facility, an international consultative body for the purchase of a corona19 vaccine, with a frozen $7 billion (about 7.6 trillion won). There are observations that South Korea may suggest ways to consult directly with Iranian allies. However, it is unclear whether the U.S. can accept not only direct transactions with Iran, but also direct or indirect transactions through a third party as violations of sanctions against Iran. Cairo = Correspondent Lim Hyun-seok [email protected]