TEHRAN, Iran, Aug. 25
Trend:
The head of the Iran-Japan Joint Trade Committee asked the government to import coronavirus vaccines by Iranian blocked assets in Japan, South Korea, and other countries.
"Recently, a private company claimed that it has a license to import 5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine and announced that it is going to import up to 50 million doses soon. The company asked us to help speed up the process,” Bahram Shakouri said, Trend reports citing Mehr News Agency.
Referring to the Japanese Foreign Minister`s visit to Iran, he expressed hope that the government provides a basis through consultation to import vaccines using the money blocked in Japan.
He went on to say that it is not possible to use blocked money abroad due to sanctions, even in the form of import of goods.
In July, the United States announced that Iran is allowed to use frozen funds to settle debts in South Korea and Japan, as talks drag on over reviving a nuclear deal that could see sanctions relief.
Since Joe Biden entered the White House earlier this year, his administration has sought a return to the deal. In April, the US and Iran informally began talks on re-entering the deal, brokered by five other signatories to the agreement - Russia, China, France, Germany, and the UK.
However, the last round of negotiations in Vienna ended without a set date for the next round.
