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2 min readNew DelhiApr 4, 2026 06:17 AM IST
An official source in New Delhi said, “Iran has conveyed its intention to use the funds to purchase medicines in India, for which permission was granted.”
A consignment of 40 tonnes of medicine bought in India is lying with the Iranian embassy in New Delhi, waiting to be sent to Iran.
Ever since a Mahan Air aircraft that was to come to India to fetch the consignment was damaged in an air strike at Mashhad airport last week, the embassy has been trying to find a way to send the medicines home, an official told The Indian Express.
“The plane that was attacked by US-Israeli forces was scheduled to land in New Delhi to collect the 40-tonne cargo of medicines that the embassy had bought. We are now trying to figure out an alternative arrangement which is not easy in these circumstances,” the official said.
“Two smaller batches of medicines bought in India were earlier sent to Tehran through the Armenian route. This would have been the biggest shipment of medicines, which is what the country urgently needs,” he said.The mission is using the donations collected in India amid the war to procure medicines, the official said, adding that over the past few days, pharmaceutical companies and facilities in Iran were being targeted, so there was concern about paucity of medicines.
On March 30, the Iranian embassy, quoting Tehran’s civil aviation organisation, said, “The attack on an Iranian aircraft carrying medicines and medical equipment constitutes a war crime and a clear violation of international law.”
An official source in New Delhi said, “Iran has conveyed its intention to use the funds to purchase medicines in India, for which permission was granted.”
While the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations does not clearly address fundraising by foreign missions, it does call upon the host country to offer them banking rights, the source said.
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The rules prohibit embassies from using their primary bank accounts for receiving donations. “A separate bank account must be created with the permission of the Ministry of External Affairs,” the source added. Initially, the Iranian embassy sought donations through its main bank account, but later opened a separate one with SBI for the purpose.
According to the source, the Indian government also delivered a consignment of medicines to Iran recently as a humanitarian gesture.
Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More
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