16 August 2011
Iran has received two thirds of the oil debts from India that had accumulated this year, Governor of Iran Central Bank Mahmoud Bahmani told reporters, here on Monday.
"Two thirds of India's debt to Iran has been paid and the balance is being taken care of and there are no problems in this regard," he said.
Bahmani denied media reports of similar payment problems with China and South Korea and he confirmed that Iran and India have discussed India paying for some of its oil in gold, a method Iran could accept "if necessary."
Bahmani confirmed that Iran and India have discussed India paying for some of its oil in gold. "Such talks have taken place and if necessary we will do that," he said.
Indian refiners said last week they expected Iran to resume 400,000 barrels a day of oil exports in September, following an uncertain August, now that they have been able to start paying the debt that Deputy Oil Minister Ahmad Qalebani said amounted to $4.8 billion.
India, Asia's third-largest economy and Iran's second-largest oil buyer after China, racked up the debt after the Reserve Bank of India scrapped a clearing house system last December.
A proposed payment conduit through Hamburg, Germany-based Europaisch Iranische Handelsbank (EIH) was scrapped earlier this year after the EU followed the United States in imposing sanctions on the Iranian-owned banks.
CBI sanction is political
Bahmani announced that calls by U.S. senators for imposing sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran are politically-motivated and unprincipled.
"The CBI is not a state-run bank but it belongs to the Iranian nation. This is the reason that the bank sometimes acts independently," Bahmani said.
"Therefore, all should pay heed that nations should not be sanctioned," he added.
He described as "unfair and non-standard" the U.S. move to sanction the CBI and stated that in that case, the world would chastise countries which impose sanctions.
Bahmani further noted that it is unlikely that the United States imposes sanctions.
The remarks come as more than 90 U.S. senators signed a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama on August 9, pressing him to approve the imposition of sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran.
The American legislators claim that the measure could potentially freeze Iran out of the global financial system, and make it nearly impossible for Tehran to clear billions of dollars in oil sales every month.
Oil payment row resolved
Meanwhile, Sibi George, Charge d' Affairs of India in Tehran told IRNA news agency on Monday that the problem of India oil payment to Iran has been resolved.
He said that letter of credits for paying Iran's oil exports have been opened and the clearing of India debt is underway.
Iran has received two thirds of the oil debts from India that had accumulated this year, Governor of Iran Central Bank Mahmoud Bahmani told reporters, here on Monday.
"Two thirds of India's debt to Iran has been paid and the balance is being taken care of and there are no problems in this regard," he said.
Bahmani denied media reports of similar payment problems with China and South Korea and he confirmed that Iran and India have discussed India paying for some of its oil in gold, a method Iran could accept "if necessary."
Bahmani confirmed that Iran and India have discussed India paying for some of its oil in gold. "Such talks have taken place and if necessary we will do that," he said.
Indian refiners said last week they expected Iran to resume 400,000 barrels a day of oil exports in September, following an uncertain August, now that they have been able to start paying the debt that Deputy Oil Minister Ahmad Qalebani said amounted to $4.8 billion.
India, Asia's third-largest economy and Iran's second-largest oil buyer after China, racked up the debt after the Reserve Bank of India scrapped a clearing house system last December.
A proposed payment conduit through Hamburg, Germany-based Europaisch Iranische Handelsbank (EIH) was scrapped earlier this year after the EU followed the United States in imposing sanctions on the Iranian-owned banks.
CBI sanction is political
Bahmani announced that calls by U.S. senators for imposing sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran are politically-motivated and unprincipled.
"The CBI is not a state-run bank but it belongs to the Iranian nation. This is the reason that the bank sometimes acts independently," Bahmani said.
"Therefore, all should pay heed that nations should not be sanctioned," he added.
He described as "unfair and non-standard" the U.S. move to sanction the CBI and stated that in that case, the world would chastise countries which impose sanctions.
Bahmani further noted that it is unlikely that the United States imposes sanctions.
The remarks come as more than 90 U.S. senators signed a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama on August 9, pressing him to approve the imposition of sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran.
The American legislators claim that the measure could potentially freeze Iran out of the global financial system, and make it nearly impossible for Tehran to clear billions of dollars in oil sales every month.
Oil payment row resolved
Meanwhile, Sibi George, Charge d' Affairs of India in Tehran told IRNA news agency on Monday that the problem of India oil payment to Iran has been resolved.
He said that letter of credits for paying Iran's oil exports have been opened and the clearing of India debt is underway.
© Tehran Times 2011
