Iran’s Top Banker: No Problem in Importing Food, Medicine
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Governor of the Central Bank of Iran said the import of foodstuff and medicine into the country has not run into trouble despite the US sanctions.
In an address to a conference on global economy and sanctions, Abdonnaser Hemmati said the necessary arrangements have been made to thwart the hostile plots for obstructing the export of food and medicine to Iran.
“The enemies were seeking to create restrictions (on Iran’s imports), but thanks to the tactics adopted, there is no problem in the import of food and medicine,” he added.
Hemmati noted that the import of foodstuff and medicine is not carried out through the Central Bank channel.
In comments on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had decried the US administration’s decision to impose new sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran as a war crime, saying it obstructed the purchase of medicines and foodstuff.
In September, the US Department of the Treasury slapped sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran and the country’s National Development Fund, a move US President Donald Trump described as the “highest level of sanctions”.
The US sanctions on Iran intensified after Washington’s withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May 2018.
