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Saturday, July 12, 2025 12:24 GMT
In a tweet on Thursday, Kianoush Jahanpour, spokesman for the Iranian Health Ministry, reiterated that a consignment of 40,000 Iranian-made COVID-19 test kits has been sent to Turkey, although with a delay caused by transportation restrictions amid the pandemic, days after Turkish sources denied that the delivery had been made. He announced the kits had been detailed on a customs declaration on May 6 and undergone all other formalities but had been delayed due to restrictions in place on flights to Turkey. The kits were sent to Turkey a day later, that is on May 7, on a Qatar Airways flight, Jananpour explained.
It was unclear whether the Turkish sources cited in the Anadolu report had been fully briefed about deliveries to Turkey.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a tweet on Friday, May 8, that Iran had sent “40,000 advanced Iran-made test kits to #Germany, #Turkey and others.” On Monday, Turkish state news agency Anadolu cited “Turkish diplomatic sources” as saying that no test kits had arrived in Turkey from Iran.Iranian special test kits for the new coronavirus have become more popular as several countries are giving orders for the diagnostic devices, an Iranian official said last week.Deputy head of the Iranian presidency’s office for scientific affairs Mehdi Ghalenoyee said on Sunday that Iranian firms are going to export serological test kits to eight more countries after a first successful cargo was sent to Germany earlier this week.Ghalenoyee said export of two types of coronavirus test kits to the Philippines and Pakistan was waiting for confirmation from the local officials after Iranian companies manufacturing the special tools sent sample kits to labs in those countries.He added that India, Nigeria and Armenia will receive the items once travel restrictions are eased.The official also said that Qatar, Georgia and Syria will soon be included in the list of export destination for the Iranian test kits. - Fars, Mehr