Iran to fund COVID-19 vaccine purchases from its frozen money in Iraq

Shafaq News/ Iran’s minister of energy, Reza Ardakanian, said on Saturday that Iraq has authorized sending $125 million to an account in Switzerland to purchase of COVID-19 vaccines, from Iran’s funds frozen in Iraqi banks by US sanctions.

The Iranian official news agency, IRNA, quoted  Ardakanian as saying that an authorization the released funds will be transferred to an account to purchase vaccines through the United Nations’ COVAX mechanism. Most of the funds frozen in Iraq are payments for natural gas and electricity sold by Iran.

The United States has imposed third-party banking sanctions that threaten banks with retaliation if they engage in transactions with Iran. Although the US has allowed Iraq to import energy from Iran, but the money has not been repatriated.

Minister Ardakanian said, “With continuous efforts we were able to secure the necessary authorizations for wiring $125 million from Trade Bank of Iraq to a Swiss bank for 16 million doses of vaccines provided by COVAX.” 

 Iranian officials have made similar remarks in the past.

There was no immediate confirmation by Iraqi officials of the reported release of Iran’s funds for the purchase of vaccines.

Iran failed to order and receive a significant quantity of Western vaccines when they started to become available and is it behind many regional countries in inoculating its population. Around 3 million doses of mostly Russian and Chinese vaccines have been used so, mainly for medical staff and people older than 70.