Baku, Azerbaijan, May 30
By Farhad Daneshvar – Trend:
An Iranian petrochemical official has denied the reports suggesting that China had recently blocked the Islamic Republic’s petrodollars, but he admitted that the nation has fallen at hurdles regarding money transactions.
Mehdi Sharifi Niknafas, the head of Iran Petrochemical Commercial Company, said that China has adopted strict anti-money laundering policies that cause difficulties in transferring the money generated through export of petrochemicals, IRNA news agency reported May 30.
“Iran’s money in China has not been blocked, but they have created disruption in the procedure of payment for the export of petrochemicals,” he said.
He further added that some Iranian companies have halted export of products to China due to the existing issues regarding money transfer.
According to the official, about 40 percent of Iran’s petrochemical exports go to China.
The Middle Eastern nation’s total exports of petrochemicals over the last Iranian calendar year (ended March 20, 2017) amounted to 20.4 million tons. The country plans to generate $17 billion by increasing its petrochemicals output to 72 million tons over the current year.