The Latest from Iran (3 December): Medicine and Sanctions

0700 GMT: The Wall Street Journal rarely has a kind word for the Islamic Republic, but it gives the regime an unexpected opportunity to attack sanctions this morning.

The possibility comes out of a Journal article, "Snake Tale: How Venom Binds U.S., Iran":

In a surprising—and irony-rich—byproduct of the Afghan war, the Pentagon finds itself dependent on a scientific research arm of the Iranian government to treat bites by Oxus cobras, Haly's pit vipers and other snakes peculiar to the battlefields of southwest Asia.

Despite U.S.-led international sanctions designed to paralyze Iran's trade with the outside world, the Defense Department buys the drugs through a middleman, with orders totaling 115 vials at $310 apiece since January 2011.

Medical guidance issued by U.S. Central Command says drugs made by Iran's Razi Vaccine & Serum Research Institute "should be the first line of antivenin therapy" because they counter venoms of the most-common Afghan snakes, said a U.S. officer who has read it....

The Iranians say they are willing to sell Razi drugs to anyone. "We make this to save lives, and it doesn't matter if the person is Iranian or Afghan or American," said Hadi Zareh, lead researcher in Razi's antivenin department. "We are happy to hear we have saved a person's life, even an American soldier."

Prompted by questions from The Wall Street Journal, Pentagon lawyers are investigating whether the purchases violate sanctions rules and require a waiver from the U.S. Treasury Department. "We are working with the Department of Defense to confirm the details of these purchases to ensure compliance" with sanctions regulations, a Treasury spokesman said.

Press TV follows up, "Iranian medicine has been saving the lives of Americans while the illegal US-led sanctions against the Islamic Republic have been adversely affecting the lives of many Iranian patients."

The article concentrates exclusively on the sanctions an "act of brutality", citing an Iranian academic. It does not refer to other issues, such as alleged mismanagement and failure to allocate funds, which have led to the threatened impeachment of the Minister of Health.

from EA WorldView: EA Iran

Posted via email from lissping