In response to Khamenei’s decision to ban COVID-19 vaccines originating from the United States and the United Kingdom, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) issued the following statement:
Back to top“Over 50,000 Iranians have died from COVID-19 according to official figures, and reliable sources say the real figure could be twice or three times as high. Iranians desperately need access to vaccines from as many safe sources as possible. Yet, last week, Ayatollah Khamenei outrageously banned ‘English and American’ vaccines, which could prove fatal to many Iranians.
NIAC strongly condemns Khamenei’s decision to put politics and ideology over science and the health and well being of the Iranian people. In this moment of immense pain for the Iranian people, no government edict or international sanctions should block access to vaccines. NIAC reiterates its call, and works daily in Washington to ensure, that U.S. policy does not prevent Iranians from accessing medicine or the resources necessary to combat the coronavirus. Similarly, NIAC urges in the strongest possible terms that the Iranian government must not inhibit access to vital life-saving medicines for the Iranian people.”