Iran will halt oil shipments to India if not paid by 1 August

Iran exports about $12 billion of petroleum to India


FM Confirms Media Reports on Iran's Warning to India over Oil Arrears
News number: 9004281278 17:07 | 2011-07-19
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9004281278


TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iranian foreign ministry on Tuesday confirmed earlier
media reports on Tehran's recent warning to New Delhi about a possible halt
in oil supplies to India due to continued overdue payments.



"If the Iranian side feels that it cannot receive the money for its exported
oil supplies desirably and on time, it will revise" its decision about
continuing oil exports to India, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin
Mehman-Parast said in his weekly press conference in Tehran today.


"Oil deals are made within the framework of trade rules and naturally when a
deal is inked and a good is exported, its money should be paid,"
Mehman-Parast added.


An Iranian Oil Ministry official had earlier told FNA that Iran could stop
oil exports to India starting on August 1 if the financial dispute over the
payment of arrears is not resolved.


The unnamed official said on Monday that Iran does not want to halt oil
shipments to India indefinitely and will only halt deliveries scheduled for
August if India fails to pay its debt to the Islamic Republic.


Also on Monday, Central Bank of Iran Governor Mahmoud Bahmani said that
there have been some negotiations with the Indian officials over the overdue
payment, which now stands at five billion dollars. Bahmani corrected earlier
reports that said the figure was nine billion dollars.


In February 2011, Iran and India agreed to set up a new mechanism for the
oil payments using euros through the EIH Bank in Germany.


On April 7, Germany rebuffed pressure by the United States and the European
Union to close down the EIH Bank, announcing that it has no proof that any
illegal activities are being conducted by the bank.


German Foreign Ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke said that the EIH Bank
will continue its activities in the European country.


India imports 84 percent of its oil requirements and depends heavily on oil
from the Middle East to power its economy.


Iran is reportedly India's second biggest oil supplier after Saudi Arabia
and exports about $12 billion of petroleum to Asia's third largest oil
consumer.






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