The Iranian government has said it will start exporting its own Covid-19 shots to other countries, as Tehran reached an agreement with Hungary on the mutual recognition of Covid-19 vaccine passes.
Speaking to local media on Thursday, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that Iranian scientists have succeeded in the mass production of indigenously developed vaccines in recent months.
Abdollahian vowed that Iran would soon start exporting its jabs overseas, touting them as being of high quality. However, serious doubts exist about their efficacy, and questions remain about the trial practices involved.
The minister was speaking after a bilateral meeting with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto in which the two sides came to a number of agreements, including a move for Hungary to recognize Iranian vaccine passports.
“We talked about Afghanistan and helping the people of that country. The Hungarian foreign minister brought with him a consignment of donated vaccines to vaccinate four million Afghan nationals in Iran,” the top Iranian diplomat added.
It is understood that only one of at least five indigenously developed vaccines has gone into mass production.
COVIran Barekat has been widely praised by Iranian officials, who claim it is among the most effective vaccines in the world.
Iran has approved 11 vaccines for use against Covid-19, including the AstraZeneca jab, which was delivered by the Covax shot-sharing initiative.
