TEHRAN, Iran, May 29
Trend:
Iran has received a necessary permit to use $125 of its funds in Iraq, for the purchase of 16 million doses of COVAX COVID-19 vaccine, and transfer the mentioned sum of money to a European bank, Iran's Minister of Energy Reza Ardakanian said, Trend reports citing IRNA.
"It is expected that the administrative procedure of this work would be complete by the end of this week and soon vaccines would be provided to Iran's Ministry of Health," he said.
Ardakanian has previously stated that the required money for the purchase of coronavirus vaccine from Russia would be paid from Iraq's debt to Iran.
Iran continues to monitor the coronavirus situation in the country. Reportedly, the disease was brought to Iran by a businessman from Iran's Qom city, who went on a business trip to China, despite official warnings. The man died later from the disease.
The Islamic Republic of Iran only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19. The pandemic hit a wide range of businesses in Iran since its outbreak in mid-February.
The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019.