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Iran’s Khamenei Bans Imports of US, British COVID-19 Vaccines

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. (Reuters)
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. (Reuters)
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Iran’s Khamenei Bans Imports of US, British COVID-19 Vaccines

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. (Reuters)
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. (Reuters)

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei banned Iran’s government on Friday from importing COVID-19 vaccines from the United States and Britain.

“Imports of US and British vaccines into the country are banned. I have told this to officials and I’m saying it publicly now,” Khamenei said in a live televised speech.

“If the Americans were able to produce a vaccine, they would not have such a coronavirus fiasco in their own country.”

Iran, the country that has been worst hit by the novel coronavirus in the region, launched human trials of its first domestic COVID-19 vaccine candidate late last month, saying it could help Iran defeat the pandemic despite US sanctions that affect its ability to import vaccines.

Khamenei praised Iran’s efforts to develop domestic vaccines but said Iran could obtain vaccines “from other reliable places”. He gave no details but China and Russia are both allies of Iran.

“I’m not optimistic about France either because of their history of infected blood,” Khamenei said, referring to the country’s contaminated blood scandal of the 1980s and 1990s.

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Trump Administration Says Harvard May Lose Ability to Enroll Foreign Students

People take photos in January 2024 near John Harvard's statue on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Steven Senne/AP
People take photos in January 2024 near John Harvard's statue on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Steven Senne/AP
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Trump Administration Says Harvard May Lose Ability to Enroll Foreign Students

People take photos in January 2024 near John Harvard's statue on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Steven Senne/AP
People take photos in January 2024 near John Harvard's statue on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Steven Senne/AP

The US Department of Homeland Security said Harvard University will lose its ability to enroll foreign students if it does not meet demands from the Trump administration to share information on some visa holders, marking the government's latest escalation against the educational institution.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also announced on Wednesday the termination of two DHS grants totaling more than $2.7 million to Harvard, Reuters said.
Noem said she wrote a letter to Harvard demanding records on what she called the "illegal and violent activities" of Harvard's foreign student visa holders by April 30.
"And if Harvard cannot verify it is in full compliance with its reporting requirements, the university will lose the privilege of enrolling foreign students," Noem said in a statement.
A Harvard spokesperson said the university was aware of Noem's letter "regarding grant cancellations and scrutiny of foreign student visas."
The spokesperson said the university stood by its statement earlier in the week to "not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights" while saying it will comply with the law.
President Donald Trump's administration has threatened universities with federal funding cuts over pro-Palestinian campus protests against US ally Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza after a deadly October 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants.
Trump casts the protesters as foreign policy threats who are antisemitic and sympathetic to Hamas. Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the Trump administration wrongly conflates their advocacy for Palestinian rights and criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza with support for extremism and antisemitism.
The Trump administration is also attempting to deport some foreign protesters and has revoked hundreds of visas across the country.
"With a $53.2 billion endowment, Harvard can fund its own chaos - DHS won't," Noem said, adding an "anti-American, pro-Hamas ideology" existed at Harvard.
Harvard has previously said it worked to fight antisemitism and other prejudice on its campus while preserving academic freedoms and the right to protest.
TRUMP'S CRACKDOWN
The Trump administration said late last month it was reviewing $9 billion in federal contracts and grants to Harvard and later called for restrictions - including a mask ban and removal of diversity, equity and inclusion programs - to be put in place for the university to continue receiving federal money.
Harvard on Monday rejected numerous demands that it said would cede control to the government. The Trump administration subsequently said it was freezing $2.3 billion in funding.
Trump also threatened on Tuesday to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status. CNN reported on Wednesday the US Internal Revenue Service was making plans to rescind the tax-exempt status of Harvard and that a final decision was expected soon.
Harvard said there was no legal basis to rescind its tax-exempt status, saying such an action will be unprecedented, will diminish its financial aid for students and will lead to abandonment of some critical medical research programs.
Human rights advocates have raised free speech and academic freedom concerns over the crackdown by the government.
The Trump administration has frozen or canceled some funding for universities like Columbia, Princeton, Brown, Cornell and Northwestern as well.
It has also threatened to withhold funding over culture war issues such as DEI programs and transgender policies.