Iran
Monday 19 April 2021
-
![Hassan Rouhani]()
Hassan Rouhani
Iran’s president
“U.S. blocked Iran’s access to 10 million doses of coronavirus vaccine.”
Read more...India halted coronavirus vaccine exports under the United Nations-backed COVAX program due to a domestic vaccine shortage and a surge of COVID-19 cases. The move had a global impact but did not target Iran. -
![Saeed Khatibzadeh]()
Saeed Khatibzadeh
spokesman, Iranian Foreign Ministry
“Iran rejects the ‘suspicious rumors’ circulating about the rocket attack that targeted a U.S. airbase in Erbil and condemns ‘suspicious attempts’ to link the incident to the Islamic Republic.”
Read more...Iraqi and Kurdish security sources say a proxy group for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps was behind a deadly rocket attack in Erbil. -
![Ayatollah Abbas Tabrizian]()
Ayatollah Abbas Tabrizian
Shiite religious leader
“Don’t approach those who have had the COVID vaccine … They have become homosexuals.”
Read more...There is no link between vaccination and sexual orientation. Nor do vaccinated people act like ‘controlled robots.’ -
![Suheil Shaheen]()
Suheil Shaheen
Member of Taliban negotiation team
“Daesh … their members were transferred by choppers. When the Taliban laid a siege on them, we saw that only American choppers could fly as the Afghan airspace is fully under the control of Americans.”
Read more...There is no evidence the U.S. has helped evacuate Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan by helicopter. The U.S. has been fighting IS in several countries. -
![Press TV]()
Press TV
Iranian state TV channel
“Pompeo’s allegations come although all the US’ previous such accusations, including those made by former president George W. Bush’s administration — during which al-Qaida’s 9/11 attacks against the US took place — have been discredited.”
Read more...Key al-Qaida leaders, supporters and several members of Osama bin Laden’s family took refuge in Iran, and some stayed there for years. -
![Saeed Khatibzadeh]()
Saeed Khatibzadeh
Spokesman, Iran's Foreign Ministry
Iran's Foreign Ministry “rejected the false news of the presence of al-Qaida members in Iran and refused certain media reports claiming that one official of the terrorist group was assassinated in Iran.”
Read more...Sources since mid-October have reported the likely assassination of al-Qaida’s No. 2 leader, Abu Muhammad al-Masri, in Tehran, where he was living under an alias. -
![Majid Takht Ravanchi]()
Majid Takht Ravanchi
Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations
“Recently, in flagrant violation of the Court’s Order, the U.S. has intensified its pressures on the Iranian people in the midst of the pandemic outbreak…”
Read more...The U.N.’s highest court said in 2018 the U.S. should exclude food and medicine from sanctions on Iran, but it didn’t rule against all sanctions. -
![Mohammad Zareian]()
Mohammad Zareian
Iran's representative to the United Nations
“The report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran (A/75/213) has been drafted solely based upon unverified, biased and tendentious sources and is nothing short of politically motivated.”
Read more...The U.N. report on human rights violations contains evidence from the Iranian government, rights groups, media, victims, their families and lawyers. -
![Yousef Tabatabai-Nejad]()
Yousef Tabatabai-Nejad
Ayatollah of Isfahan, Iran
“The misunderstanding of this example and the incorrect mentality of some media outlets caused them to divert public opinion from the main issues and problems of the country by fragmenting the mentioned speech, lying and inducing self-made material.”
Read more...The Iranian media correctly quoted the de-facto governor of the city of Isfahan as calling for violence against women who wear hijab “improperly.” -
![Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei]()
Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei
Iran’s supreme leader
“The cardinal and unforgivable sin of a French magazine in insulting the holy face of the Prophet once again revealed the hatred and hostility of the political and cultural institutions of the Western world against Islam and the Muslim community.”
Read more...The French magazine has aimed its cartoon satire at other faiths as well, and past Western leaders have scolded it for going too far. -
![Hakim Hussein Kheirandish]()
Hakim Hussein Kheirandish
Practitioner of Iranian traditional Islamic medicine
“Eating salt frequently protects from corona infection better than wearing a mask.”
Read more...Several research trials are studying the effect of salt and salt-based solutions against COVID-19. So far, none suggests eating salt instead of wearing a mask. -
![Brigadier General Eskandar Momeni]()
Brigadier General Eskandar Momeni
Head of Iran's Drug Control Headquarters
"Based on reliable information, planes operated by the NATO and the United States transport these illicit drugs in our neighboring country.”
Read more...NATO has been actively engaged in counter-drug trafficking operations in Afghanistan. The Iranians provided no evidence or identifiable sources for their claims, nor did the Russians -- the original source of the claim.
