A handout picture provided by the Iranian presidency on April 7, 2021 shows President Hassan Rouhani speaking during a cabinet meeting in the capital Tehran.
(IRANIAN PRESIDENCY / AFP)
TEHRAN – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday accused the United States of blocking Iran's access to 10 million doses of coronavirus vaccine by pressuring the companies involved in supplying the vaccine to Iran.
"We signed a vaccine agreement with a country, but the Americans blocked it," Rouhani was quoted by the official news agency IRNA as saying.
Iran has so far registered over 2 million coronavirus cases with more than 63,800 deaths
"They (Americans) came and put pressure on the companies that supply parts of the vaccine from abroad, and blocked 10 million doses of the vaccine that we were supposed to import into the country," he noted.
Meanwhile, Iran faced difficulty for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines with the country's money in foreign accounts all locked up by US sanctions, he said.
"Efforts will be made for the domestic vaccine to bear fruit and enter the market," he added.
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Rouhani's remarks came as his country is facing the fourth wave of coronavirus infection. Iran has so far registered over 2 million coronavirus cases with more than 63,800 deaths.