Iran has refused to sell oil to India after the Indian Central Bank
attempted to adopt a new payment scheme, ITAR-TASS cites UK media.
Iran will not sell oil if India keeps insisting on fulfillment of its
demand. India is asking for a 13% share of Iranian oil sales,
PRIME-TASS reports.
Experts say that the new payment scheme in India was introduced under
pressure from the US. If India and Iran do not come to an agreement it
will benefit Russia and China.
The Iranian National Oil Company has refused to receive oil payments
from Indian companies after the Indian Reserve Bank banned the use of
the major payment network, Asian Clearing Union, in oil and gas import
operations.
The Indian companies requested that the Iranian National Oil Company
choose a European bank for oil payments. Iran refused this request.
Mumbai will host a meeting of officials from the central banks of Iran
and India on Friday, who will try to solve the problem. The Indian Oil
Ministry requested that the companies use the old payment scheme in
the meantime.
The USA is trying to increase international economic pressure on Iran
to have it abandon its nuclear programme. Washington suspects it of
having military purposes.
The Asian Clearing Union was established in 1974, with its
headquarters in Tehran. The settlement system consists of 8 South
Asian countries. Companies use it to pay for goods and services in
their national currencies. Specialists say that the UN sanctions
against Iran have augmented the operations of Iranian companies using
the system.
