Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
Iranian Deputy Health Minister and Head of Food and Drug Organization Rasoul Dinarvand has commented on Iran's imports drugs from India in return for oil, Mehr news agency reported Feb. 15.
"The money that Iran must receive for its oil export to such countries as India, South Korea, Japan, and to some extent Turkey can only come in the form of humanitarian aid (as they call it) due to regulations the US has imposed on those countries. The humanitarian term includes food, drug, medical equipment and staples," Dinarvand said.
"India is not an exception here," he noted. "We have the same kind of money in China, Japan, Korea and Turkey. That does not mean, however, that we are required only to buy drugs and medical equipment from these countries."
Regarding Iran's opportunity to sign a contract with India to receive drugs for oil, he answered that Iran has not signed a contract but there is such an opportunity.
He further explained that we buy medical raw material from India, whereas our import of drugs to India is very limited.
"And we don't have any import from China," he said.
The international sanctions have recently made it difficult for Iran to acquire drugs from abroad.
On many occasions Tehran has considered the sanctions as unjust, blaming the sanctioning countries for causing human catastrophe. Under such circumstances, many patients cannot find the necessary drugs.