The debt crisis between Iran and India, which was caused by the US sanctions on the Islamic republic, has been resolved by the support of Turkey’s state-run Halkbank, the lender’s executives confirm. Separate reports by the Iranian media say that Turkey, Iran and Iraq have reached a consensus to found a joint bank based in Tehran. (source)
 This file photo shows an employee filling the gas tank of car at a gas station in Tehran. Turkey’s Halkbank has helped India pay its debt to the Islamic republic. |
Indian oil refiners have concluded a successful test payment in euros through Turkey’s Halkbank for Iranian crude oil in an effort to end a U.S.-created impasse that has seen the refiners build up over $5 billion in debts, a bank spokesman said.
India’s state-run Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, Iran’s biggest Indian customer, released a small payment in euros through Halkbank, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters news agency last week.
The company’s spokesperson confirmed the transaction but refused to give further details.
“We confirm the news by Reuters,”
Halkbank’s public relations representative told the Hürriyet Daily News on Monday.
The bank complied with United Nations regulations, a Halkbank top executive told Reuters on Friday. “We comply with punctuality to all U.N. rules. It is out of question that we would get involved in a transaction against these [rules]. It is [also] out of the question that we would stay out of a legal business,” he said.
However, Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Iran’s Central Bank governor, Mahmut Bahmani, and said Turkey had played no role in the transfer payments India owes to Iran for supplies of crude oil.
“Turkey does not have any role in transferring Iran’s money from India,” Mehr quoted Bahmani as saying. “Iran itself will receive its debt in arrears.”
New Delhi imports 400,000 barrels of crude per day from Iran, which accounts for 12 percent of its oil demand. India and Iran have been looking for ways for payment on these supplies, since December when the Reserve Bank of India halted a clearing mechanism under U.S. pressure. Unable to find a solution, Iran told Indian refineries that it would cut oil supplies for August due to the latter’s ballooning debt.
‘Iran, Turkey, Iraq to establish joint bank’
Meanwhile, Iran, Turkey, and Iraq have signed a memorandum of understanding to invest $200 million to establish a joint bank, a report by the Fars news agency claimed Monday.
Still, the report was not confirmed by Turkish officials.
The agreement was inked Thursday on the sidelines of the Tehran international construction fair, Confair 2011, the agency reported. Its main objective is to facilitate capital flows in economic transactions between the three nations. The central branch of the bank will be located in Tehran, but Turkey and Iraq will also be allowed to open branches, according to the report.
The value of trade between Iran and Turkey has surpassed $11 billion over the past year, Fars cited the Turkish ambassador to Tehran, Ümit Yardım, as saying Friday.
Reza Kamel, a member of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce board of representatives, also said Friday that the two countries should provide a foundation to increase their effective economic activities and trade exchanges to $30 billion, which would be possible “given the existing potentials in both countries.”
Tehran’s ambassador to Ankara, Bahman Hosseinpour, said earlier in July that Iran and Turkey were determined to boost their trade exchanges to $15 billion this year.
