Indian companies dreaming about restarting Iran oil imports

Speaking in an interview with The Hindu, Iran’s Deputy Chief of Mission in India Masoud Rezvanian answered a host of questions, including the future of Iran-India oil cooperation in case the US administration is changed and sanctions relaxed.

“Well, this is essentially a commercial decision as well as a political one. We believe that Iran’s proximity to India makes the best sense for the Indian market. Because of our close relations, we used to sell our crude oil to India on credit, so India could process and even resell it, and pay us in time,” Rezvanian said.

“Short time of 7 to 8 days for crude oil delivery to Indian ports is also something unique which gives adequate assurance on availability and accessibility of oil resources. In addition, as we used the Rupee mechanism, the money we received from India was used to purchase goods from India. market, and so it benefited much of Indian foreign trade and economy,” he added.

“On US presidential elections, it is premature to say what will happen next. We believe our bilateral relations especially in trade and investment, should not be linked to the third parties and I do think that for Indian companies, in spite of the increase in purchase of oil and gas from the U.S. market, restarting oil import from Iran, is still something they dream about,” noted the envoy.

The United States, under the Trump administration, has imposed severe sanctions against Iran, especially targeting the country’s oil export, after unilaterally withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018.

Meanwhile, the initial results of the US Presidential race indicate Joe Biden’s win which can potentially mean the return of his administration to the deal. Tehran has highlighted that Washington should lift all sanctions and compensate for the losses inflicted on Tehran over the past three years before returning to the agreement.