Part of India's Debt Paid with 'Lifted Restrictions on Euro Transfers'

On the eve of the Indian Prime Minister's visit to Tehran, the Director General of Political Affairs at Iran's Foreign Ministry announced that 'restrictions on bank transfers in euros' for the Islamic Republic have been 'lifted' and an equivalent of 750 million dollars of the debts of Indian companies 'in euros' has been deposited into the Central Bank of Iran's account in Turkey. According to the state news agency IRNA, Hamid Baidi-Nejad wrote on his Telegram channel on Sunday, June 2, that 'the transfer of the equivalent of 750 million dollars in euros from the first installment of the payment of Indian companies' debts to the Central Bank of Iran's account in Turkey shows that restrictions on high-value bank transfers and the conversion of amounts from currencies like rupees to euros have been removed.' Indian media had previously reported that the debts of Indian refineries to Iran amounted to 6.4 billion dollars. After the Vienna nuclear agreement, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control had agreed to allow 1.4 billion dollars of Iran's oil assets in India to be deposited in two installments into the account of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic in Oman. Iranian media reported last October that this amount had been paid. Meanwhile, the Indian newspaper 'Liemint' reported that in recent days, the Mangalore refinery deposited about 500 million dollars and the Indian Oil refinery deposited 250 million dollars into Iran's account. According to this newspaper, the Essar refinery is also preparing to deposit 500 million dollars into Iran's account. All these amounts have been deposited in euros and through India's Union Bank into the account of the National Iranian Oil Company at Halk Bank in Turkey. Reuters reported on Friday, May 17, that the central banks of Iran and India had agreed that New Delhi's 6.4 billion dollar oil debt to Tehran would be settled through European banks. Dharmendra Pradhan, India's Minister of Oil, told the news agency that buyers of Iranian oil had been barred from settling payments through the global banking system since 2011 due to sanctions. At the beginning of the sanctions, India settled 55 percent of its imported oil payments from Iran through Halk Bank in Turkey, but this bank was forced to stop operations for transferring Iran's oil money in 2013 due to U.S. sanctions. Since then, New Delhi has deposited 55 percent of Iran's oil payments in a foreign currency account in a bank in India, and the remaining 45 percent was deposited in rupees into Iran's account at UCO Bank in India. Iran was only allowed to use this money to purchase permitted goods from India. Reports indicate that Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, arrived in Tehran on Sunday afternoon, June 2, at the head of a high-ranking political, economic, and cultural delegation. According to IRNA, the development of Chabahar port, investment in the oil and gas sector, increasing trade exchanges, and signing a memorandum of understanding and cultural cooperation programs between the two countries are among the goals of this visit. Mr. Baidi-Nejad wrote in another part of his message that in the past week, 'medium-sized' European banks 'for the first time facilitated the transfer of currency from Iranian banks to institutions abroad.' In recent weeks, officials of the Islamic Republic, including Valiollah Seif, the head of the Central Bank, have expressed dissatisfaction with the outcomes of the Vienna nuclear agreement for the Islamic Republic, stating that Iran's international banking relations have not yet normalized. The U.S. Secretary of State and his counterparts from Britain, Germany, France, and the EU's foreign policy chief issued a statement on Thursday, May 30, urging banks and traders not to overlook legal investment opportunities in Iran. These countries have also expressed readiness to resolve doubts in this regard. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, welcomed this statement, stating that the Islamic Republic has not yet achieved 'what it should' after the Vienna nuclear agreement and that alongside statements, 'practical actions' must also be taken.