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US allows aid involving Iran Red Crescent Society: Official

File photo shows an aid worker in front of a logo of the Iranian Red Crescent Society.

Head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society has said that international aid given to the organization have been exempted from US sanctions.

Karim Hemmati told the official IRNA news agency on Monday that the United States government had allowed the Iranian Red Crescent to take delivery of financial aids and other shipments from abroad provided that the donors are not Americans.

The announcement, which has yet to be confirmed by the Iranian and US governments, comes at a time of increased pressure on Washington to ease its sanctions on Iran to allow the country to access the drugs and medical equipment it needs to fight the new coronavirus pandemic.

Hemmati said the US Treasury had granted the waiver in response to a request by the International Federation of Red Cross to exempt aid to Iran’s main humanitarian organization.  

“The US finally capitulated and several days ago there was a correspondence from the side of the US Treasury Department based on which there would be a respite on the issue of transfer of humanitarian aid to the Iranian Red Crescent Society.”

Based on these correspondences, if an aid is given to the Iranian Red Crescent Society from legal or real persons, provided that none of the parties involved are American, the US Treasury Department would not oppose the shipment of the aid,” said Hemmati.

The official added that the waiver had enabled Iran to receive parts of the shipments that had stalled for years because of the sanctions. He did not elaborate.

Hemmati said that Iran could take maximum benefit of the newly installed financial channel to import a bulk of its medicine and food needs.

The IRNA news agency also said that experts believe the new waiver would lead to the transfer of a "significant amount of foreign currencies" to Iran in the near future.


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