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.

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"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."