TEHRAN – Health Minister Saeed Namaki said on Tuesday the United States lies when it says pharmaceuticals and medical equipment are not subject to its sanctions on Iran.

Namaki also said there is no serious shortage of pharmaceuticals in Iran, according to Tasnim

“Iran has not faced any severe shortage of medicines although the enemies have waged an economic war against the country,” he said.

The medicine shortage at the present time has dropped to one-third of what it used to be last year, he added.

Last week, Namaki said the U.S. is exerting pressure on all pharmaceutical companies to stop the sale of medicine to Iran.

“They have put pressure on all our financial transactions regarding medicinal drugs and are exerting pressure on all pharmaceutical companies to stop the sale of medicines to us,” he said.

Officials in Washington repeatedly claimed they would not stop the sale of medicines and food to Iran, but they have lied, and the flow of vital medicines has been stopped, the minister explained.

President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, in May 2018 and restored the previous sanctions against Iran and ordered new ones. Trump has described his government’s sanctions against Iran as “economic war”.

Iran says sanctions on its central bank will prevent it from providing medicine to its citizens.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said last month that the United States’ sanctions and economic war on Iran have targeted the ordinary people’s health and livelihood.

“There was a time when such warfare was used to simply limit the activities of some countries. However, new warfare of the United States and what Trump has called the ‘economic war’ have targeted the ordinary people’s livelihood and health,” the chief diplomat lamented.

MH/PA