Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has banned Iran from importing American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine produced with German BioNTech and Britain's Astrazeneca vaccine, a reflection of mistrust toward the West.
In a televised speech, Friday, he said the import of American and British vaccines was "forbidden."
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Referring to the surging death tolls from the virus in both countries, Khamenei said, "I really do not trust" them. "Sometimes they want to test" their vaccines on other countries. I am not optimistic [about] France either," he said.
Khamenei did, however, approve the import of vaccines from other "safe" places and said he remained supportive of Iran's efforts toward producing a vaccine. The county began testing its vaccines on humans in December. The product is expected to hit the local market in spring.
Hardliners in Iran have long opposed the US-made vaccines. Iran's Revolutionary Guard in December rejected the use of foreign-made vaccines altogether. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naghdi said the Guard "does not recommend the injection of any foreign vaccine" candidates based on genetic material known as messenger RNA, which carries the instructions for cells to make proteins.
Authorities said then that US-based benefactors plan to deploy tens of thousands of Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccines to Iran.
Iran retains routes to vaccines despite sanctions, including through its participation in COVAX, a group dedicated to assuring fair access to vaccines for low- and middle-income countries. International banks and financial institutions have been reluctant to deal with Iran for fear of American penalties.
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