Iran Approves Russian Coronavirus Vaccine Sputnik V

Iran has approved Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine and plans to both import it and produce it, giving the Middle East’s worst-hit country a tool to fight the spread of COVID-19, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday. “The Sputnik V vaccine was yesterday also registered and approved by our health authorities,” Zarif said at a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow on Tuesday. “In the near future, we hope to be able to purchase it, as well as start joint production.”

Also, Iran urged U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday to lift sanctions which it said were hampering Tehran’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.  Iran recorded over 1.38 million cases and 57,560 deaths, according to government data on Tuesday, but there has been a decline in new infections in recent weeks. “Since (Biden’s) administration claims not to be anti-science like the previous one ..., one expects it to free the transfer of Iran’s own foreign exchange resources to fight the coronavirus and for health and food, and lift banking sanctions quickly,” government spokesman Ali Rabiei told state television. He also threatened that Iran would block short-notice inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities by the United Nations atomic agency if Washington did not lift sanctions.

President Hassan Rohani said on Saturday that vaccinations would begin in the coming weeks.

Tehran launched human trials of the first of its three domestic vaccine candidates late last month, saying this could help it defeat the pandemic despite U.S. sanctions that affect its ability to import vaccines. Iran is also participating in the COVAX scheme that aims to secure fair access to COVID-19 vaccines for poorer countries.

Earlier this month Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s highest authority, banned the government from importing vaccines from the United States and Britain, which he said were possibly seeking to spread the infection to other countries. - Reuters