Press TV - Iran has unveiled its first domestically-built ventilator. This comes as Iran cannot get its hands on medical equipment due to the US sanctions against the country.

The US medical sanctions have blocked Tehran's access to foreign-supplied ventilators, which are vital for treating COVID-19 patients with severe respiratory problems. But this is not the end for the patients in Iran. An Iranian company has done the impossible by producing an all-Iranian ventilator.

Hospitals in Iran have so far lived on previously imported ventilators to respond to COVID-19. But as another coronavirus peak is expected to hit the country in September, Iran may run short of ventilators.

Pooyandegan-e Raahe Saadat, which is the producer of the Iranian ventilator, says it will do its best to make up for the shortage. The Iranian company says its products are on par with their foreign rivals. It says some 50 countries have already filed requests to buy their ventilators.

Iran is one of the world�s worst-hit countries. The US sanctions prevent Iran from buying any medical equipment, even the most basic ones, such as protective items. The Trump administration, however, continues to ignore calls by the world leaders to exempt Iran's medical sector from the list of its sanctions.

Iranian engineers in here live the saying that necessity is the mother of invention. They say the current pandemic has led them towards a direction of self-sufficiency in the medical sector, helping them to fill the vacuum created by the bans, and above all, to save the lives of thousands of people.