Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 6
By Fatih Karimov- Trend:
Iran wants to receive its oil money in euro rather than US dollar, Safar Ali Keramati, deputy head of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) for crude oil marketing, said.
Recovering oil debts as well as new crude sales money in euro is Tehran's priority, Keramati said, the oil ministry's SHANA news agency reported Feb. 6.
The European consumers will not face any problem for euro payments, he added.
Earlier Reuters quoted a source in NIOC that Iran wants to recover tens of billions of dollars it is owed by India and other buyers of its oil in euros and is billing new crude sales in euros, too, looking to reduce its dependence on the U.S. dollar following last month's sanctions relief.
Iran was allowed to recover some of the funds frozen under US-led sanctions in currencies other than dollars, such as the Omani rial and UAE dhiram.
The US officials estimate about $100 billion of Iranian assets were frozen abroad, around half of which Tehran could access as a result of sanctions relief. It is not clear how much of those funds are oil dues that Iran would want back in euros.
Last month, NIOC's director general for international affairs told Reuters that Iran "would prefer to receive (oil money owed) in some foreign currency, which for the time being is going to be euro."
Indian government sources confirmed Iran is looking to be paid in euros.