India cleared a second installment of $550 million in oil dues to Iran yesterday under an interim deal that has allowed Tehran access to $4.2 billion in blocked funds globally, two industry sources said.
Asian buyers such as Japan and South Korea have already cleared some of the money they owe for imports of Iranian oil under a payment schedule approved by world powers in an interim nuclear deal with Iran last November.
Iran wanted the last three payments under the joint plan of action (JPA) totalling $1.65bn from India, but New Delhi could not clear the May and the June installments on time as the banking mechanism to remit the funds was not in place.
The current mechanism involving the central bank of the United Arab Emirates allows Tehran access to funds in Dirahms as a reward for cooperating in talks with world powers over its nuclear programme.
