An Iranian official has confirmed that Iran has opened accounts in Indian banks, including UCO Bank, to facilitate the rupee payment.
NEW DELHI – Iran said on Tuesday that it has agreed to India’s proposal for a crude payment mechanism under which India will pay for 45% of its imports from Iran through the Indian rupee.
In what is the first official confirmation of a breakthrough in the India-Iran crude payment dialogue, necessitated by the likely disruption of the current mode of payment through a Turkish bank because of US and EU sanctions, Iran’s ambassador to India Seyed Mehdi Nabizadeh said both the countries were fully satisfied with the new mechanism. Nabizadeh confirmed that Iran has opened accounts in Indian banks, including UCO Bank, to facilitate the rupee payment.
“Fortunately, Iran’s central bank and RBI have together arrived at a mechanism which is suitable and agreeable to both the countries,” Nabizadeh said as he completely ruled out the possibility of using gold for payment. He said the two sides were hopeful of soon finding a way to pay for India’s remaining oil imports too.
Nabizadeh, however, ruled out offering any concession in pricing of the crude to India which has declared that it will not cut down on oil imports from Iran despite the fresh wave of EU and US sanctions. “Oil prices should be equal for all,” he said, adding that this was also the time when India should actually help Iran.
