Big Haul of Medical Goods to Be Released from Iran South Customs
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An Iranian official said a large consignment of medical supplies, including 20 tons of respiratory masks, is going to be released from the Shahid Rajaee Customs Terminal south of Iran, as the demand for equipment for the coronavirus fight is growing in the country.
In an interview with Tasnim, supervisor of the customs offices in Iran’s southern province of Hormozgan said the consignment that is going to go through customs includes 20 tons of masks, 71 tons of gloves, and 65 tons of disinfectants.
Abolfazl Akbarpoor also noted that the data on the medical supplies, their owners and the destination stores are available to the Customs Office and the supervisory organizations, warning that the importers will be brought to justice if they seek to hoard the goods.
He also noted that the Customs Office has already blocked the export of two containers of medical gloves weighing around 22 tons.
A couple of days ago, 10 individuals charged with hoarding health supplies and disrupting Iran’s economy stood trial as these products are scarce in the country due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus, known as COVID-19.
Despite the urgent need for sanitary products in the country, the defendants intended to smuggle 2,600,000 masks to China.
Last week, Iran’s Judiciary Chief Hojatoleslam Ebrahim Raeisi ordered severe punishment for hoarding pharmaceutical and health products as Iranian organizations and government bodies are heavily engaged in efforts to contain the novel coronavirus outbreak.