Head of Khamenei's medical team supports ban on coronavirus vaccine imports: WHO is biased in favor of America

Alireza Marandi, head of Khamenei's medical team, has supported the Islamic Republic's leader's order to ban the import of American and British coronavirus vaccines, accusing the World Health Organization of "biasing" in favor of American technology in the production of the coronavirus vaccine.

Mr. Marandi, who heads the Academy of Medical Sciences, wrote a critical letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, claiming that because the United States withdrew from the World Health Organization, the organization authorized a vaccine produced in the country that was "not adequately tested" so that the United States could return to the organization.

The Trump administration announced in July of this year that it would officially withdraw from the World Health Organization within the next year, but given Joe Biden's election promise to quickly return the United States to the World Health Organization, the US withdrawal from the organization will not be officially and operationally implemented.

Mr. Marandi's letter was written in response to the statements of Michael Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Program, who, in response to Khamenei's order to ban the import of American and British vaccines, said: "Please do not politicize the vaccine issue."

Mr. Marandi has called on WHO officials not to "politicize" Iran's decisions, and that Iran has the right to be cautious about purchasing a vaccine that was "produced at an unprecedented speed" and "based on technology that has never been licensed before."

Pfizer, an American company, in partnership with a German company, was able to produce the first effective vaccine for the coronavirus. With the approval of world experts, the administration of this vaccine has been started in several countries for several weeks, and other countries are also in line to purchase it.

Ugur Sahin, a Turkish scientist who is the chief executive of the German company BioNTech and has partnered with Pfizer to produce the coronavirus vaccine, was in Iran last November and received the Muslim Scientists Award, known as the "Mustafa Award", at a ceremony attended by Alireza Marandi.

Source: Radio Farda