You see a page from the old site of Iran International that is no longer updated. Visit iranintl.com to view the new site.

Exclusive: Iranian officials lied about sanctions hindering test kit import

Iran International has received documents that disprove the claims made by Iranian Officials about the lack of coronavirus test kits In Iran due to sanctions.

The documents seen by Iran International show that Iranian officials received the first offer to import test kits on Jan 25. 

On January 25, the “Fardavar Azma Iranian” company, which is the exclusive representative of the Swiss pharmaceutical company “Roche”, announced its readiness to import coronavirus test kits. Roche is one of the largest manufacturers of corona test kits in the world. “Rabet Amin International” and “Sidal Pars”, representing two South Korean companies, also announced their readiness to import test kits from South Korea on Feb 10 and Feb 15 respectively. There is no mention of sanctions as an obstacle to importing the kits in these companies’ responses to the Ministry of Health.

These documents also show that several Iranian companies received orders to import coronavirus test kits from December 24 until late February. Arina Life Science, Fardad Azma Rad, Pishgam Biotechnology, and Viragene are among the companies that have been importing test kits into Iran. 

On March 21 the Deputy Health Minister, Alireza Raisi, stated that there was a lack of coronavirus test kits in Iran before February 11. He also blamed the sanctions for hindering Iran’s ability to import coronavirus test kits.

Iran International has received documents that show the Passive Defense Organization Committee at the Ministry of Health held a session on January 25 to follow up on the orders to purchase coronavirus kits, and in this session, COVID-19 was referred to as “Corona Outbreak, A New Virus”.

Recent evidence that Iran International had previously published also disproves the claims made by President Hassan Rouhani about Islamic Republic officials being unaware of the coronavirus outbreak before Feb 19, and shows that in fact, they were aware of it weeks earlier.

Iran in Brief
City officials in Iran's capital Tehran are planning to put locks on large waste containers in the streets to prevent garbage pickers from accessing waste.More
The Biden Administration has confirmed to the US Congress that sanction imposed by its predecessor on Iran have drastically reduced Iran's trade with the world.More
The UK government said on Sept 20 that Britain would "not rest" until all its dual nationals being held in Iran were returned home.More
President Ebrahim Raisi’s vice president in women’s affairs has refused to support an age limit in child marriage, a controversial issue in Iran.More
In first news about detained Iranian dissident rap singer Toomaj, Iran International has learned that was arrested by the intelligence ministry.More