On Sunday, June 7, the head of Iran’s Food and Drug Administration announced that approximately 100 tons of pharmaceutical raw materials have remained stranded in the Jebel Ali region of the United Arab Emirates since the outbreak of the conflict, while additional shipments have been held up at Karachi Port in Pakistan.
Mehdi Pirsalehi also stated that a large share of the raw materials used in psychiatric medications, as well as certain vaccines, are imported from India, and that some of these shipments have yet to reach Iran.
Over recent weeks, numerous reports have emerged regarding medicine shortages and sharp increases in pharmaceutical prices across the country.
Pirsalehi said that many transportation routes and import channels for medicines are facing restrictions. Addressing the rise in drug prices, he noted that while part of the pharmaceutical sector continues to receive subsidized foreign currency, a significant portion relies on non-subsidized exchange rates. According to him, the non-subsidized exchange rate has risen from around 70,000 tomans in January to approximately 150,000 tomans.
The head of the Food and Drug Administration further stated that the cost of packaging materials and other auxiliary supplies—particularly products linked to the petrochemical industry—has increased by two to five times during this period.
Meanwhile, Mohsen Zanganeh, a member of Iran’s Parliamentary Planning and Budget Commission, told Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), that “currently, an average of between $1.5 million and $2 million is collected from each vessel passing through the Strait of Hormuz.”
His remarks come despite earlier statements by Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, who denied that the Islamic Republic was seeking to impose transit fees or passage charges on vessels using the Strait of Hormuz. He stated that Iran was instead seeking payment for services provided in the waterway jointly with Oman.
