We are ready for Zanjani to deposit oil debt into blocked accounts

The legal affairs manager of the National Iranian Oil Company described Babak Zanjani's and his lawyer's claims about the sanctions on the company's accounts as "pretexting" and stated that the company is willing to accept its debt from Mr. Zanjani even into accounts that are sanctioned and "blocked." According to Fars News Agency, Ali Akbar Maharzad emphasized on Tuesday, November 3, that Babak Zanjani has so far "not taken any effective action" to provide a guarantee. Babak Zanjani had stated in his court that the National Iranian Oil Company did not provide an account for him to pay his debts. Mr. Zanjani and his lawyer, Rasoul Kouhpayehzadeh, also announced that as long as Western sanctions against Iran are not lifted, there is no possibility of depositing Mr. Zanjani's debt into the National Iranian Oil Company's account. The legal affairs manager of the National Iranian Oil Company called these statements "pretexting" and emphasized that the Central Bank of Iran's account has been provided for the payment of debts to Babak Zanjani. Babak Zanjani stated in his court that officials from the Ministry of Oil said that "if Zanjani wants to pay, we must check that his money is very clean and not the result of heroin, arms, and drug sales." He added: "If he is telling the truth, he should announce in which country and which bank he will deposit the money, and we will inform him of the account in that country, and he can deposit the amount, and if it is sanctioned, it doesn't matter, and this money will remain in our account there, just as we have accounts in many banks that are held and will be transferred via SWIFT after the sanctions." Mr. Maharzad, without mentioning the name of the country, said that "8 or 9 months ago" an account number was given outside Iran for paying the debt to Mr. Zanjani, but he did not deposit any money into this account. The issue of settling Babak Zanjani's debt has become a contentious topic between officials and the lawyer of the National Iranian Oil Company and Rasoul Kouhpayehzadeh, the lawyer of Babak Zanjani. Babak Zanjani promised on Saturday, November 9, that by Tuesday he would provide a bank guarantee of "1,968 million euros" through a "reputable" foreign bank to pay his debts. On Tuesday, news agencies reported, citing Mr. Zanjani's lawyer, that 1.427 billion euros of his debt had been settled, but the guarantee for the payment of the oil cargo sales, which is another part of his debt, has not yet been issued. The lawyer and the legal affairs manager of the National Iranian Oil Company have denied these statements. The legal affairs manager of the National Iranian Oil Company responded to Mr. Zanjani's statements by saying that the Central Bank is obliged under money laundering laws to "see where this money comes from." He added: "They say we are not willing to disclose the source of the money and the name of the country and the name of the bank issuing the guarantee, and we say that when you do not announce this, then this amount has a problem; it seems unlikely that there is actually any amount." Mr. Maharzad has previously accused Babak Zanjani and his lawyers of making claims about debt payment for the purpose of "advertising exploitation, wasting time, and prolonging litigation."