The head of the Central Bank of Iran asserted that “because the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine has to be done through the official channels of the World Health Organization (WHO), all the paths to pay and transfer the required currency have so far been blocked by the inhumane embargoes of the U.S. government and the need to obtain an Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) license”. Referring to Iran’s request of an IMF loan, the Iranian official claimed that “the IMF did not even dare raise the issue… at the fund’s board of directors under the U.S. pressures and threats”. In a statement, the U.S. Treasury Department reiterated that “the U.S. maintains broad exceptions… that allow for the commercial sale and export of humanitarian goods”.