Iran Cooperates with Cuba to Produce COVID-19 Vaccine

A patient being treated for coronavirus at a hospital in Tehran. Reuters file photo
A patient being treated for coronavirus at a hospital in Tehran. Reuters file photo
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Iran Cooperates with Cuba to Produce COVID-19 Vaccine

A patient being treated for coronavirus at a hospital in Tehran. Reuters file photo
A patient being treated for coronavirus at a hospital in Tehran. Reuters file photo

Iran is co-producing a COVID-19 vaccine with a Cuban company, Spokesperson for the Iran Food and Drug Administration (IFDA) at the Health Ministry Kianoush Jahanpour revealed Friday, while denying that the first batch of vaccine purchased from abroad had reached the country.

“There are four different ways to supply the coronavirus vaccine, including direct purchase from a foreign country, procurement from the World Health Organization’ COVAX facility, a joint production with a Cuban company as well as domestic producing of the vaccine,” the spokesperson said.

He explained that the human trial phase of the vaccine has been carried out successfully in Cuba.

“The second phase of the human trial is being conducted under the supervision of the Pasteur Institute of Iran in Cuba. Provided that the second phase is successful, the third phase will be implemented in mid-March in Iran,” Jahanpour said.

Meanwhile, the Jamaran website published photos of Iranians protesting near the Health Ministry the purchase of foreign-made vaccines.

One protester wrote on a sign, “No to local-made vaccines, No to foreign-made vaccines.”

The website said the protest coincided with the announcement of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi that an agreement was reached with China, India and Russia for buying 20 million vaccine doses.

Coordinating Deputy Commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Brigadier-General Mohammdreza Naghdi said companies producing COVID-19 vaccines believe that the world is over-populated and there is evidence that they want to reduce the world population by 20 percent.

“There is evidence that these companies have manipulated the vaccine itself and contaminated it. How can one trust them in such circumstances?" Naghdi asked.

Spokeswoman for the Iranian Ministry of Health Sima Sadat Lari said the country recorded 6,286 daily coronavirus cases on Friday, raising the total infections to 1,231,429.



Russian Troops Push into Ukraine’s Sumy Region

 In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following a Russian attack in Sumy, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following a Russian attack in Sumy, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
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Russian Troops Push into Ukraine’s Sumy Region

 In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following a Russian attack in Sumy, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire following a Russian attack in Sumy, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Russia said on Sunday that its troops had taken the village of Basivka in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, and were battering Ukrainian forces at a host of settlements in the area.

More than two years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv sent thousands of troops over the border into Russia's Kursk region in August last year though a Russian offensive over recent months has pushed most of Ukrainian forces out of Kursk.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly suggested that Russian forces carve out a buffer zone along the border.

Russia's defense ministry said that it had taken the village of Basivka, just over the border from Sudzha, and had struck Ukrainian forces at 12 other points in the Sumy region.

Ukrainian officials later denied the report, saying Russian forces were not in control of Basivka.

"As of today, the Russians do not control Basivka in Sumy region. They are trying to run in there in assault groups and look for cellars in order to gain a foothold, but the enemy is being destroyed," Andriy Kovalenko, an official of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said on Telegram messenger.

"The fighting in the Sumy region border area is complex and continues daily in several areas, and is also taking place in the Kursk border area," he added.

Russia's defense ministry also said that Russia had defeated Ukrainian units in the Russian settlements of Gornal, Guevo and Oleshnya.

The pro-Ukrainian DeepState war map shows Ukraine in control of about 63 square kilometers (24 square miles) of Russian territory, down from as much as 1,400 square kilometers claimed by Kyiv last year.

Another 81 square kilometers of territory along the border - including Basivka - is classed by DeepState as of "unknown" control.

Russia currently controls a little under one fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea which Russia annexed in 2014, and most but not all of four other regions which Moscow now claims are part of Russia - a claim not recognized by most countries.

Russia controls all of Crimea, almost all of Luhansk, and more than 70% of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, according to Russian estimates. It also controls a sliver of Kharkiv region.