TEHRAN, Iran, May 3
Trend:
Iran Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian that the foreign currency required to buy the coronavirus vaccine from Russia will be provided through Iran's demands from Iraq soon, Trend reports via IRNA.
“According to the president's order, the funds needed to buy the vaccine should be provided from different sources," he said on the sidelines of the meeting with Majid Mahdi Hantoush Ali, Minister of Electricity of the Republic of Iraq.
"According to the agreement between Iran and Russia, part of our debts from Iraq, will be spent on the purchase of Russian vaccine,” he added.
Ardakanian went on to say that the electricity cooperation between the two countries has been going on for a long time.
He said that the Iraqi's minister's visit to Iran is mainly focused on preparing financial arrangements to have Iraq pay its debts to Iran's NIGC company, and to some extent to Tavanir company.
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.