Iran’s Mishandling of COVID Vaccine Sparks Debate Amid Presidential Campaign

Observers note that amid otherwise uneventful presidential debates, a contentious issue emerged, dividing conservatives and so-called reformists: the unfulfilled promise of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Four of the six handpicked presidential candidates, including conservative contenders Alireza Zakani, Saeed Jalili, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Amir-Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi, have accused the previous "reformist" administration of cynically using sanctions and FATF regulations to justify avoiding vaccine imports, thereby misleading the public.

Their criticisms have been primarily directed at Masoud Pezeshkian, the sole "reformist-leaning" candidate.

During the debates, presidential hopeful Ghazizadeh Hashemi remarked, "They [Hassan Rouhani's government] even received the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine themselves but prevented the ordinary people from becoming 'lab rats' for COVID-19 vaccine trials and obstructed all imports. They also cited FATF as a justification. Yet now they claim to have imported COVID-19 vaccines."

He said, "They should have imported them two weeks earlier so the current administration wouldn’t claim sole credit."

In a newly released video, former President Hassan Rouhani addressed criticism from conservatives. He said that his statement about Iranians not being "lab rats" was in response to China's proposal, not US or UK, to commence vaccine trials in July 2020 in Iran.

"At the time, the prevailing understanding was that vaccine trials require two years before they are deemed safe for public distribution, so when assurances were made that their vaccine would be ready by summer, skepticism arose regarding its adequacy," Rouhani stated.

He elaborated that he had "consulted the Health Ministry and other relevant organizations," which "opposed the trials" because "China refused to assume responsibility for any potential fatalities."

Rouhani further claimed that he never prohibited vaccine imports and had "written to the Health Ministry, instructing them to purchase vaccines from 'any country' that developed a safe and effective vaccine."

"We also began using Russia's Sputnik vaccine in February 2021, followed by China's Sinopharm a month later," he said.

“Our government procured and administered approximately 30 million vaccine doses, including a separate agreement with China for 60 million doses, and secured a contract with COVAX for 16.8 million doses. Additionally, we finalized an agreement with Russia for 60 million doses of the Sputnik vaccine,” Rouhani said.

"We procured the vaccine, but its distribution was attributed to the incoming government due to the logistical delays in delivery," he added.

While allegations revolve around Rouhani's handling of vaccine imports, it was the country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who in January 2020, issued an order banning the import of COVID-19 vaccines from the US and UK, urging Iran to pursue vaccine development or secure them from more reliable sources.

“If their Pfizer company can produce vaccines, why don’t they use them themselves so they don’t have so many dead? The same applies to Britain," Khamenei said at the time.

Khamenei’s conspiracy theories regarding COVID-19 had been circulating for some time, but the explicit ban on these vaccines began then.

His directive came after the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) announced on December 28, 2020, that a consortium of US-based philanthropists had pledged to donate 150,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for transfer to Iran within three weeks. An IRCS spokesperson confirmed the abandonment of the plan shortly after.

According to Rouhani, they secured permits for AstraZeneca vaccines through intermediary channels, ensuring they were not directly exported from the US or the UK.

Rouhani’s administration though, presented conflicting statements regarding procuring vaccines through "COVAX," a global initiative to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for low-income countries, and the impact of sanctions and FATF regulations.

Abdolnasser Hemmati, the head of the Central Bank of Iran, stated that depositing foreign currency into the World Health Organization's account requires approval from the US Department of Treasury, which has posed a "hindrance" to the process. However, the Drugs Importers Union chairman, Nasser Riahi, refuted this claim, asserting that there are no obstacles to purchasing vaccines through COVAX.

Government spokesperson Ali Rabiei also stated, "Due to sanctions laws and FATF regulations, several stages of money transfers encountered difficulties and obstacles."

This is while the US has always maintained that while they impose economic sanctions to curb Iran's backing of terrorism and proxy conflicts in the Middle East, it excludes medical supplies, agricultural products, personal communication devices, and humanitarian aid destined for the Iranian populace from these sanctions.

In August 2021, shortly after Ebrahim Raisi assumed office, Khamenei shifted his stance, emphasizing that COVID-19 had become the nation's foremost priority. He underscored the imperative to secure vaccines through all available means.

"Whether through importation or domestic production, vaccines should be diligently provided and made accessible to all individuals through every feasible means," Khamenei said in August 2021.

This move allowed conservatives to claim credit for the subsequent mass vaccination campaign.

The vaccination campaign saw a significant uptick under Ebrahim Raisi's conservative administration following Rouhani's tenure, coinciding with Iran's "summer of death" in 2021, with the highest daily death toll and new cases of COVID-19 in Iran.

In 2023, medical experts reported over 75,000 preventable COVID-19 deaths in Iran, attributing them to Khamenei's reluctance to permit global vaccine access.