Various Iranian officials are now admitting – following the ban by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on importing the Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines earlier this month – that the regime doesn’t plan on bringing in any vaccine that is approved by the World Health Organisation.
“The entry of American and British Covid-19 vaccines into the country is banned. I have told this to our officials and now I am saying it publicly,” said Khamenei on January 8.
Regarding the #Coronavirus, the import of U.S. and British #CovidVaccine into Iran is forbidden. I've said this to officials and now, I say it publicly. If the Americans could produce vaccines, this Corona fiasco didn't happen—Supreme Leader Ali Khameneipic.twitter.com/V6dcafU7iu
— IranNewsUpdate (@IranNewsUpdate1) January 8, 2021
He claimed that the vaccine producers wanted to test vaccines on Iranians, even though these vaccines have already been rolled out in many countries. It’s even confirmed that President Joe Biden and Queen Elizabeth II have both had the Pfizer vaccine.
The idea that these companies would vaccinate two heads of state and then test them on ordinary people is beggars’ belief and proves that Khamenei is just trying to use the coronavirus to control the restive population.
At the beginning of the pandemic, he called it a “blessing” and has since done nothing to slow the spread, like paying the wages of non-essential workers with the hundreds of billions of dollars he has at his disposal and putting the country on lockdown.
The regime’s Hassan Rouhani went along with Khamenei’s story, prompting outrage from medical staff and the general public, who staged protests and took to social media over these lies and began using the hashtag “purchase the vaccine.”
Amnesty International criticized Khamenei’s ban, saying it was “in step with the authorities’ decades-long contempt for human rights, including the right to life and health” and that he was “reckless” and “toying with millions of lives by placing politics above people”.
The regime is now claiming that the corrupt Khomeini Relief Foundation has created a domestic vaccine – one that is not approved by the WHO – and that this will end the crisis.
This prompted the leaders of three medical institutions, including the Chair of the Assembly of Scientific Associations, to write a letter to Rouhani, urging him to do everything in the government’s power to buy a safe and approved vaccine.
While the Immunology Association warned that with every delay in buying and importing a safe vaccine, many thousands more will die and this will cause irreparable damage.
“Khamenei takes advantage of the coronavirus to consolidate his hold on power and does not want to lose this opportunity,” wrote the Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
“The truth is that Khamenei will fail to extinguish the Iranian people’s uprising. The vaccine ban will increase the Iranian people’s desire for regime change and will be reflected in upcoming uprisings and protests,” the NCRI added.
Source » irannewsupdate