Sanctions Fail to Block Iran's Supply of Veterinary Medicine

TEHRAN (FNA)- Sanctions have failed to deter Iran from supplying its needed drugs for animals, Head of the Iranian Veterinary Organization Mohsen Dastoor said Sunday, adding that embargos have actually pushed the country towards domestic production. "Although sanctions have created some problems for currency transfer, all needs to vaccines, drugs and even their raw materials have been met and there is no problem in this regard," he said. Iran has managed to produce several types of medicines, including hi-tech pharmaceutical products used for treating various kinds of diseases despite the sanctions imposed against the country. Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions and the unilateral western embargos for turning down West's calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment. Tehran has dismissed the West's demand as politically tainted and illogical, stressing that sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iranians' national resolve to continue the path. Political observers believe that the United States has remained at loggerheads with Iran mainly over the independent and home-grown nature of Tehran's nuclear technology, which gives the Islamic Republic the potential to turn into a world power and a role model for the other third-world countries.