Rouhani says US wants vaccine payments to go via its banks

TEHRAN: President Hassan Rouhani said Saturday that Washington was demanding Iranian transactions for novel coronavirus vaccines pass through the US banks, and expressed fear the money could be seized.

US President Donald Trump has imposed wave after wave of sanctions on the Islamic republic since 2018, when he unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal. Iran has assets frozen in several countries, including in the US. “We want to transfer money from a country where our money is” to buy the vaccine and “this country has accepted”, Rouhani said during a meeting of Iran’s coronavirus task force, without identifying the country in question.

In theory, medicines are exempt from the sanctions, but in reality, international banks tend to turn down transactions involving Iran to avoid being exposed to potential litigation.