Iran leaders under fire for ‘having banned Pfizer jabs’
TENSIONS in Iran mounted further last night after claims those linked to the regime had procured Pfizer vaccines, despite formally banning them from the country.
The scandal emerged two weeks before controversial presidential elections which, dissidents say, already face mass boycotts as dissatisfaction over the Islamic regime increases.
And it follows news that officials are investigating the possibility of deliberate sabotage for the sinking of the Iranian navy’s largest vessel onwednesday. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei banned the import of US and UK vaccines at the beginning of January, leaving its people to tackle the Middle East’s worst pandemic with its own COVIRAN Barakat jabs and those from Russia and China.
Just weeks later, however, former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly procured a Pfizer jab from the UAE at a cost of £900, according to his former aide Abdolreza Davari.
Ahmadinejad insisted he refused the offer, but suggested others in the regime had taken it. He said: “The reason the situation is chaotic and no decisions are made is because officials themselves have been vaccinated and they feel safe.”
Activists in Iran have confirmed they have increased illegal activities in a bid to secure a mass boycott of the elections on June 18.
Speaking from a town near the Caspian Sea last night, a nurse called Shirin said: “As a nurse I know they have lied about the extent of Covid deaths.the regime doesn’t care about its own people.
“All of their leaders and top brass have had the Pfizer vaccine, which was banned for ordinary people. So if you are rich and influential you can secure the best vaccines. And what are ordinary people getting?
“Korean, Chinese, Russian vaccines and now it is trying to distribute its own Barakat vaccine.”
Shirin, 37, told how she risks imprisonment and even torture to distribute leaflets on behalf of the banned MEK dissident group.
She said: “I’m not alone.the people have had enough and you can see that by the way so many more people like me, who were law-abiding in the past, are taking the actions I’m taking.”