A subsidiary company of Iran<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s Barkat Ventures is manufacturing oxygen \u200econcentrators and ventilators in an effort to help those who are infected \u200ewith the coronavirus<\/strong><\/a> <\/a>in the country, said its CEO. \u200e<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran\u2019s Barkat Ventures is a knowledge-based institute affiliated with the \u200eheadquarters for the Execution of Imam Khomeini\u2019s Order (EIKO). \u200eEstablished as EIKO\u2019s executive arm in the development of the country\u2019s \u200eknowledge-based economy, Barkat Ventures\u2019 mission is the creation and \u200eexpansion of the ecosystem and infrastructure required for the \u200edevelopment of knowledge and knowledge-based activities in the country, \u200eaccording to barkatventures.com.\u200e<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To these ends, it has placed on its agenda making the maximum use of the \u200ecapabilities of domestic scientists and experts and expanding cooperation \u200ewith the country\u2019s institutes and organizations involved in the fields of \u200escience, technology and the knowledge-based economy. \u200e<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commenting on his company\u2019s activities in an exclusive interview with \u200eIran Daily, Peyman Bakhshandeh-Nejad added, \u201cIn cooperation with a \u200enumber of researchers of a new technology-based firm, we started our \u200eactivities at Sharif [University\u2019s] Advanced Technologies Incubator in 2014. \u200eTwo years later, the company produced its first oxygen concentrator as \u200epart of a project funded by Barkat Ventures.\u201d\u200e<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said in the beginning, the company was highly dependent on imports \u200efor manufacturing the device, purchasing almost 80 percent of the spare \u200eparts from other countries, noting that, however, in 2018 EIKO supported \u200ethe company, enabling it to produce oxygen concentrators without having \u200eto rely on imports.\u200e<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since late 2019, Bakhshandeh-Nejad added, domestic production of all \u200espare parts required for manufacturing the device has begun. \u200e<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said, previously, the company\u2019s production line manufactured five \u200eoxygen concentrators per day, noting that following the coronavirus \u200eoutbreak in Iran, the number of the produced devices has increased to 30 \u200eper day. \u200e<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak, EIKO placed on its agenda \u200eincreased investments in the domestic production of ventilators and other \u200emedical equipment required for combatting the virus. This was done in \u200eview of the rise in domestic demand for such products and due to the \u200eunjust US <\/strong><\/a>sanctions on the Iran <\/strong>impeding imports of such \u200edevices. \u200e<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May 2018, President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Joint \u200e\u200eComprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA<\/a>), \u200esigned between Iran and the P5+1 \u200ein July \u200e\u200e2015, and reimposed Washington\u2019s unilateral sanctions on \u200eTehran. \u200eThe sanctions \u200ehave hindered, among other things, the delivery of \u200einternational \u200ehumanitarian \u200eaid, medicine and medical equipment to Iran, \u200eparticularly, now that the \u200ecountry is fighting against the \u200ecoronavirus. \u200e<\/p>\n\n\n\n