US buying Iranian antivenom to treat troops in Afghanistan

The United States has been in the forefront of imposing sanctions on trade with Iran, but draws the line when it comes to a trade ban that might prevent them from treating soldiers bitten by snakes in Afghanistan. From BusinessInsider.com:

Despite U.S.-led international sanctions imposed to cripple Iran's economy, the Defense Department has purchased about 115 vials of antivenom made by Iran's Razi Vaccine & Serum Research Institute from middlemen for about $310 apiece since January 2011. Questions from the WSJ have prompted the Pentagon to investigate whether the purchases violate rules of the sanctions and require a waiver from the U.S. Treasury Department. [...] "We make this to save lives, and it doesn't matter if the person is Iranian or Afghan or American," Hadi Zareh, lead researcher in Razi's antivenin department, told the [Wall Street Journal]. "We are happy to hear we have saved a person's life, even an American soldier."

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