Azerbaijan, Baku, July 4 / Trend T. Jafarov /
Debts associated with oil imports are natural. However, India's debt to Iran is very big and the time of its payment is delayed, a member of the Iranian Parliament's Energy Commission Moayyed Hosseini Sadr told Trend.
The Indian Reserve Bank has banned to carry out payment for the oil that comes from Iran, according to the Asian Clearing Union, since December 2010, so Indian companies cannot pay money for imported oil through local banks.
Despite Iran and India reached an agreement to pay the debts for oil through "Europäisch-Iranische Handelsbank" (EIH), located in Germany, on February 2011, Berlin banned making these operations
The U.S. Treasury Department included the German-Iranian joint bank (EIH) in the "blacklist" for assisting Iran's nuclear program in 2010.
In February, German Chancellor Angela Merkel personally intervened in the issue of paying the debt for oil imported from Iran by India through EIH. As a result, the operation was prohibited.
He said that delaying the situation is disadvantageous to Iran.
"Delaying the situation this way is disadvantageous to our country," he said. "We are looking for a way out by lawful means and putting pressure on India to pay off the debts."
Sadr said that India can take advantage of the different options for returning the debt to Iran. There are no restrictions.
"India can take advantage of the different options of paying the debt," he said. "Instead of oil, it can supply some products to Iran or return money in other ways. There are no restrictions."
India had to pay $2 billion for the import of Iranian oil till February 2011. Taking into account that oil supplies from Iran have not been changed, and they still continue, India's debt to Iran is increasing.
Iran provides India with 400,000 barrels of oil a day. It ranks second on oil exports to India after Saudi Arabia.