Iran Says Swiss Channel for Medicine Imports ‘Hyped Up’

Tehran has criticized the media hype regarding Switzerland’s launch of what it calls a “humanitarian” channel for the import of medicine into Iran in the face of US sanctions, saying the move was helpful but not much worth highlighting as it was fully paid for by the Iranian nation’s money.

“We recognize no such thing as a humanitarian channel and the like. Regardless of the fact that we consider all the sanctions illegal, the medicines and foods, as you know, were not included on the list of any sanctions, so it is not appropriate that they sensationalize and make a fuss about launching a channel that facilitates such transactions,” said Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi.

“You witnessed that the issue was hyped up on social media, whereas in our view it wasn’t much worth highlighting,” he added, speaking to reporters in a press conference on Monday.

“We will utilize any opening that reduces the pressures on the Iranian nation, and consider [the channel] helpful [in this regard]. But the US knows that it has obligations to meet, and there is also the verdict of the International Court of Justice which rules that the medicines and foods must not be among the sanctioned items,” he added.

Therefore, the spokesman said, “they are obliged to facilitate the import of such products.”

“In our view, giving permits in a drop-by-drop manner … cannot clear the US regime of its obligations towards the Iranian nation and of the war crimes it has committed especially by putting sanctions on medicine.”

“The imported medicines have been paid for with the nation’s money, and it’s nothing new. Actually it should have started one and a half years ago but was put off until now because of US sabotage. And the Swiss company which does the job also receives the payment made by the Iranian nation,” he went on to say.

The spokesman said the channel should not be hyped up more than it deserves, as “our expectations are more than that. Their obligations are tens of and hundreds of times more than this one single channel they have launched, and we don’t need to be reminded too many times about it.”

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