Tehran, 07 May_The UK government has said that the 400,000 surgical gowns flown in from Turkey by the RAF do not meet British safety standards.
A spokesman for the Turkish company which supplied the goods, Mehmet Duzen, from Selegna Tekstil, told the BBC the company had not had any communication from the NHS, the British embassy in Ankara, or British government officials complaining about the quality of its gowns.
"The fabric we supplied was certified. All the goods were certified," he said, adding that they were ready to respond if there was a mistake.
As much as half of the consignment of personal protective equipment (PPE), outsourced to Turkey, was flown to the UK by the RAF last month, but has not been given to NHS workers and is now stuck in a warehouse.
PPE is essential for protecting front-line workers exposed to Covid-19, and without it workers are afraid they could contract or spread the virus.
Amid a row over the procurement of PPE in April, the government announced it had managed to source a large supply from Turkey.
The RAF was deployed to Istanbul to fly it back to RAF Brize Norton on 22 April after many delays in its arrival.
How much PPE was on board the plane is unclear, however, the craft used has a maximum cargo load of about 40 tons, about half of the consignment.