"We cannot use even one single dollar of our own assets in other countries to pay for medicine and foodstuff, because the US doesn't allow it," Jahangiri added.
“Iran’s import of medicine and medical equipment in the first ten months of the current Iranian (starting March 21) was nearly $3 billion," he said, adding “Under these tough sanctions, Iranian officials, especially the private sector and economic activists, had carried out more than $70 billion worth of trade transactions with the world in the past ten months.”
"Nonetheless, we have our ways around sanctions. Iran's economy is great and cannot be isolated," he stressed.
On Monday, the Governor of the Central bank of Iran (CBI) also reacted to the Swiss envoy's remarks on a humanitarian channel for the delivery of foodstuff and medicine to Iran without tripping over the US sanctions.
Iran’s import of medicine and medical equipment in the first ten months of the current Iranian year is 2,000 times more than the volume imported from the Swiss financial channel, Hemmati said, “Iran is not dependent on the decisions and actions of other countries for providing its nation's essentials.”
MNA/IRN 83659990