Iran's envoy to Russia Kazem Jalali made the comments on the sidelines of the unveiling ceremony of the Iranian-made version of Russian Sputnik V vaccines in the Iranian city of Karaj on Saturday.
Jalali said that "previously, contracts were signed to import two million doses of Sputnik V while Iran sought to sign more contracts."
He said that "finally Iran signed contracts to import 60 million doses."
The Iranian ambassador pointed out that "we are not satisfied with the number of vaccines sent from Russia."
He added as Iran's ambassador he will follow up on Sputnik V vaccine exports to Iran as the people of Iran are still in danger and given the close relationship between Iran and Russia.
"Fortunately, Sputnik V has now found its place in Iran," he said, adding that "I told the Russian officials, unfortunately, in the perspective of some Iranians the Russians do not keep their words. In the current situation which people are suffering, any delay in sending the vaccines can reinforce their [negative] mentalities [of Russia]."
According to statistics, Russia has so far dispatched 9 shipments of Sputnik V vaccines to Iran as part of an agreement signed between the Ministry of Health of Iran and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to supply to Iran 2 m doses of Sputnik V. The nine batches contained 920,000 doses of Russian-made vaccine.
The Iranian ambassador wrote in early spring in a tweet regarding the purchase of the vaccines from Russia, "Concerned about another wave of Coronavirus in Iran, the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Russia finalized a contract with the Russian government for the purchase of 60 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine. According to the agreed schedule, the vaccines will be sent to Iran from June to November of this year."
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