Referring to the steps taken by the Iranian Health Ministry in line with supplying foreign vaccines, president said Iran has had a successful performance in producing domestic vaccines and supplying foreign ones.

Phase 2 and 3 of a clinical trial for the first Iranian coronavirus vaccine, COVIran Barakat, began on Monday with two voluntary receivers.

The first phase of the COVIran Barakat test was carried out early in January and 56 volunteers at the age of 18-50 received two doses of the vaccine.

The collection of blood samples from phase one volunteers completed last week and the final report was handed over to Iran’s Health Ministry.

Yesterday, Speaking at the unveiling ceremony of the Sepand vaccine, Namaki said that it was the product of a project commenced by Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the nuclear scientist assassinated by agents of the Zionist Regime in November.

Namaki is going to give more details about the Sepand vaccine on Tuesday when the clinical trial will begin.

In addition to Sepand, three other COVID-19 vaccine projects in Iran have begun their clinical trial. Razi Serum Production Institute and Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order are two Iranian institutes that are working on the vaccine, as well as the Soberana-01 vaccine of Cuba which began a clinical trial in Iran.

In the ceremony, spokesman for headquarters for the fight against the coronavirus Alireza Raisi said that 1,260,000 doses of different coronavirus vaccines have so far been imported in order to vaccinate over 1 million people working as healthcare personnel in the coming weeks.

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Noting that most of these problems were in a way the result of the all-out economic war imposed on Iran in the past three years, the Iranian president added that people firmly resisted and neutralized the sanctions and now it is time they got removed.

In a related development in mid-February, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a Twitter message that the US has admitted that Iran stepped away from its commitments because the US withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed by the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany and Iran.

“US admits that only after it ‘left the JCPOA, Iran has taken steps away’ while until then ‘Iran was living up to its limits’ That US behavior—the CAUSE—has not changed,” Zarif tweeted.

He added that the European troika is “also culpable” because they had “no business” with Iran “for 3 yrs”.

The US and the E3 “must remove the cause, NOT ask Iran to stop 136 remedies”.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani Sunday urged Europe to avoid “threats or pressure” in any negotiations with Tehran, as he received Ireland’s foreign minister amid diplomatic efforts to revive a landmark nuclear deal.

Rouhani said that “Iran still remains committed to cooperation with the IAEA.” He added that Iran is ready to reverse the restrictions “after the lifting of America’s illegal sanctions, and it stopping the policy of threats and pressure.”

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President Rouhani also responded to a statement made by US President Joe Biden’s nominee for Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman that Washington is willing to develop the scope of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action by saying that the JCPOA is a single text agreed upon by the participant states and that Iran will hold no new negotiations on the agreement.

He advised the European countries not to pursue the case, also calling upon the UN nuclear agency not to allow “good and friendly” relations with Iran to be disturbed with such a move.

Reiterating that the agency is “no place for the political game”, Rouhani said, “let us do our technical job with the agency.”

Iran’s nuclear activities are 100 percent peaceful and if there is a little bit of distance from what the agency expects, it is the US fault, the president said.

“They lift the sanctions and there will be immediately warmer relations, and the IAEA inspectors can easily carry out whatever inspection within the framework of law without any kind of problem.”

Referring to US criminal sanctions on Iran over the past three years, Rouhani said that if the new US administration intends to compensate, Iran has left the door open.

The US sanctions have inflicted more than $200 billion on the Iranian economy, Rouhani said, however, noting that Iran has left this for the next.

He said that Iran wants the US to lift the criminal sanctions and then it can rejoin the JCPOA to engage in talks with Iran.

It would benefit no one to waste the time and if the time is wasted and something is postponed, the US will be held accountable, the president said.

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This project increases oil production in Azar joint oil field to 65,000 bpd.

In the 53rd national campaign program pertaining to infrastructure projects, also, Kangan Petro Refining plant, which is the largest feed provider for petrochemical plants in Iran, was launched upon the President’s order.

The ethane recovery unit of the Kangan plant that has absorbed 970 million dollars of investment is now operating with an annual capacity of 3.5 million tons. The unit produces 1.75 million tons of ethane, one million tons of propane, 500,000 tons of butane, and 250 tons of pentane on a yearly basis and generates about one billion dollars of annual income.

The plant has relied on 100 percent Iranian designing and engineering and 65 percent of equipment has been supplied domestically.

Rouhani also broke the ground virtually for starting construction of the Kian petrochemical plant with 5.659 billion dollars in investment, creating 2,125 jobs.

In the event, the President underlined that historically Iran’s annual budget has been greatly reliant on the oil money, but his administration managed to reduce the reliance significantly.

He also stated that Iran was surpassed by neighboring country Qatar in extracting oil from joint South Pars oil field; however, the administration succeeded to reverse the trend and now Iran’s share of extraction is equal or even a bit more than Qatar.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on local manufacturers to focus on non-oil exports and expanding access to world markets as an effective instrument for defeating the sanctions.

Speaking at a Sunday session of the Administration’s Economic Coordination Headquarters, Rouhani described non-oil exports as the key to Iran’s participation in the global economy.

“The promotion of non-oil exports is highly significant as a powerful instrument of the resistance economy for countering the US’ cruel and illegal sanctions,” he added.

The president also called on Iranian non-oil producers to improve the quality of products and honor the business commitments to boost exports.

Iran has diversified its exports in recent years to cut off reliance on the petrodollars, particularly after the escalation of the US sanctions in 2018.

The government has formulated plans for the expansion of non-oil exports to stimulate growth in production, employment, and the supply of currency.

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He also stressed the importance of rendering urgent aid to quake-hit people in southwestern Iran and assistance to repair the houses damaged by the quake.

Earlier, President said that Iran’s economic relations are entering a new phase and that the views of Iranian trade partners have changed.

He said that it is clear that the defeated enemy of the economic war aims to break the country’s economic tranquility.

He said that the country’s economic situation is improving rapidly, but keeping such development requires calm and peace in the market.

The enemies are trying to downgrade Iranian’s victory in the economic war, he added.

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“We will not look for nuclear weapons, but for the peaceful nuclear technologies that are our right,” he stressed.

“We are a member of the NPT, we have a contract with the agency as a safeguard and we carry out this safeguard and we have done so far,” Rouhani noted.

Stating that Iran does not want to have covert nuclear activity, the President said, “This is a decisive decision of Iran, whether Europe, the United States or the United Nations wants it or not. Our opinion is the same as the opinion of the Leader, which was announced as a fatwa.”

“When Trump left the JCPOA under the pressure of Israel regime and Saudi Arabia, we went to the United Nations at the end of September 2018, and on the first day of the General Assembly, after Trump’s speech, he texted me eight times and wanted to meet with me. I rejected,” he added.

Iranian President highlighted, “Europe should know that if we wanted to accept the issue of missiles and the region for discussion, that Trump had returned to the JCPOA from the beginning, so nothing will be added to the JCPOA.”

“We will withdraw from the Additional Protocol on Feb. 23 and what will be implemented will be based on safeguards, if it is implemented, there will be no significant issue,” Rouhani noted.

Stating that Iran will not expel any inspectors from the country, he said, “If the Director-General of the Atomic Energy Agency wants to come to Tehran and negotiate, we will accept. We do not want our nuclear program to be uninspected. If someone says we are expelling the inspectors, it means we are looking for a nuclear weapon. The Additional Protocol is a step beyond safeguards.”

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Son of Minister of Health and Medical Education was the first Iranian to receive the vaccine.

Iran took delivery of the first batch of Russian COVID-19 vaccine “Sputnik V” on February 4.

Last day, speaking on the sidelines of the inaugural ceremony of rural and nomadic investment projects and also national projects of the Ministry of Labor, Cooperatives and Social Welfare on Tue., Rouhani reiterated that vaccination will start in the country tomorrow which is an auspicious and blessed day.

He wished a prosperous year for Iranians in the next year (to start March 21, 2021) in the field of confronting and battling the COVID-19 disease.

Despite tough and oppressive sanctions imposed against the country, giant steps were taken in the country in the fight against coronavirus, COVID-19, and all malicious objectives orchestrated by enemies against the country were doomed to fail completely, President Rouahni added.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Rouhani congratulated the Ten-Day Dawn ceremonies, marking the glorious victory anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, and added, “Inauguration of 142,000 development projects mean that giant and eye-catching developments have been taken at villages of the country.”

According to Rouhani, the medical staff is the first group who will receive the vaccination, and then the turn will come for the elderly and those with specific diseases.

Referring to the 80-million population of Iran, Rouhani said that the vaccination procedure will take one to eight months.

Iran will receive the next consignments later in February and also in March, he informed. In late Spring, Iran will have its domestically produced vaccine, Rouhani said.

The President estimated that considering all the above, Iran will be dealing with vaccinations within the next year. He also called for the nation to preserve the health protocols as seriously as possible in the long run.

Russia delivered the first batch of its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine to Iran on Thursday afternoon. Iranian Health Minister said that the Islamic Republic will receive 4.2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX program from February.

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He said that currently, million-strong doses of foreign vaccines have been imported for vaccination,

President hoped for providing home-made vaccines in the summer.

He said that tourism is an important economic sector in Iran, adding that revitalizing tourism will be helpful for the national economy.

President Rouhani hailed reports of a growing number of tourists visiting Iran over the last few years.

He pointed to opening over 2,200 tourism projects during the incumbent government, saying that some 670 hotels are now under construction.

Earlier, the secretary of the biotechnology development department in Iran’s presidential office Mostafa Qanei said that the necessary doses for inoculation against the coronavirus will be provided through purchase and domestic production and that the public vaccination will be complete by winter 2022.

Iran is to provide around 16 million doses of vaccines through the World Health Organization’s COVAX program, 25 million doses through import, and 25 million through domestic production, he added.

He previously said that  As long as the indigenous vaccine has not arrived, the use of foreign one is a necessity, President Rouhani said at the national anti-coronavirus headquarters meeting in Tehran. Since the outbreak of coronavirus worldwide more than a year ago, the people experienced difficult days, President Rouhani said calling for following health protocols to contain the pandemic. At his remarks, the President appreciated round-the-clock efforts made by the medical personnel to fight the deadly virus as the number of dead in Iran has dropped and reached a two-digit number.

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Delivering a speech during the visit, the president said, “Imam Khomeini was well aware that soft power would prevail over hard power; therefore, he chose soft power” to overcome the hegemonies of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979.

Rouhani referred to the return of Imam Khomeini to Iran after 14 years, saying, “February 1, 1979, was the day when Imam Khomeini showed the power of social capital to the world.”

Despite all the pressures of that time, it was the Iranian nation’s support and unity that overcame the hegemonic powers, the president added.

“February 1, in fact, is the charter of our [motto of being] Islamic and Republic.”

He added, “In most movements and revolutions, leaders usually rely on either political parties or military power. They form guerrilla military power or make some contact with foreign powers in order to succeed. But Imam Khomeini did not choose either of those ways; the Imam considered that main power to be that of people, and what he was trying to do was to convince the minds and thoughts of the people of the path he had chosen for the revolution.”

Rouhani also pointed to Imam Khomeini’s first speech after the exile, in an address to five million people, saying, “This speech is considered as the foundation of our establishment, and we will be in touch with the words of the Imam and his logic on our path toward victory.”

The president hailed the Iranian nation’s resistance and unity throughout all the past 42 years, even in the most recent events, including the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, saying, “Whenever the people came on the scene and we stood alongside with people, we were able to overcome any challenge.”

“Even today, we believe that as long as the people are on the side of this establishment and until the people accept that we are their servants, we can continue the path of the Imam for years and decades and for centuries.”

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All agree that the US should return to its commitments, he added.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, referring to the US unilateral exit from the JCPOA, said that the United States must first make up for its mistake, and then Iran will respond appropriately.

Zarif has logically asked, “Why must Iran initially show its goodwill?” arguing, “Iran is a country that stood firm and emerged victorious throughout four years of cruel economic terrorism of the United States, following its breaching of both the JCPOA and the related UN Security Council Resolution 2231.”

President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that the Iranian nation has won the economic war waged by the U.S., stressing that a bright future is awaiting Iranians.

The Iranian people succeeded to foil the plots of the architects of the economic war, promising a brighter economic future for the people, Rouhani added. “The goal of the architects of the economic war was to unsettle the Iranian economy, but I assure people that a brighter future awaits our economy,” he noted. The president added, “The angry enemies are trying to stop or slow down the positive trend with broad propaganda and psychological warfare.”

In relevant remarks in late December, President said that the U.S. economic war against his nation is nearing an end, but meantime stressed that the Iranian nation is ready for decades of resistance.

Calling the sanctions a joint product of Zionism, their regional allies, and Americans, he said, “We should defuse the conspiracy of the enemies and we should not let their cruel plan against our nation continue.”

He vowed the government’s continued effort to improve the living conditions of the Iranian people in the near future.

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