Western countries appropriate Iranian $7 bln under sanctions

Iranian officials claimed that international oil companies owe up to $15 billion to the Islamic Republic.

Greek, Korean and Indian companies along with Royal Dutch Shell and BP are among the largest debtors to Iran.

The case is that the Iranian accounts are closed because of imposed sanctions and the payments are made through escrow accounts in the purchasing countries.

"$7 billion from oil sales have not been deposited in Iran's account due to sanctions," said Ali Tayyebnia, Iranian Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance.

Head of the international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company Mohsen Qamsari specified that Greek refiners and Shell pending payments increased up to $4 billion. Royal Dutch Shell owes nearly $2.8 billion. $4-5 billion of Iranian oil money are blockaded in India.

Secretary of the Association of Petrochemical Industry Corporations Ahmad Mahdavi claimed that Korean companies also fail to meet their commitments: "Despite easing of restrictions under the Geneva agreement, Korean companies have not cleared their pending payments to Iranian companies."

Minister of Petroleum Bijan Namdar Zangeneh hopes, that "one day after the removal of sanctions, this debt will be deposited in Iran's account."

Read article in Russian on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru

Also read: Iran: 444 days of crisis and 36 years without USA