Rouhani/Jhangiri
© AFP 2019/HOIranian President Rouhani and VP Eshaq Jahangiri
The US claims that its sanctions do not restrict supplies of medicine and food to Iran are lies, Iranian First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri said on Tuesday.

Last week, US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook said that a financial channel for humanitarian goods had been created with the help of Switzerland to benefit patients in Iran. He noted that the deliveries of food, agricultural products and medicines were among the exceptions to Washington's sanctions regime. Several deliveries of medicines were already made to Iran, he added.

Jahangiri, as quoted by the Iranian government information portal, said:
"The US is lying that there are no restrictions on the import of medicines and food into our country. We have billions of dollars in various countries. But when we want to transfer one dollar from these funds for the purchase of medicines or food, the US does not allow it."
He also called the Swiss financial mechanism for purchasing goods a "propaganda" step, indicating that it does not take into account the size of Iran's economy, which has imported more than $3 billion worth of medicines this year, while the channel is designed for a $2-million capacity.

After withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May 2018, the United States introduced a series of tough sanctions against Tehran targeting individuals, companies, the government, and the banking and energy sectors.

Tehran has repeatedly stressed that waging an economic war against Iran harms not only the economies of the two countries but the global economy in general.