China, Iran to discuss 22m euro oil and gas debt
Leaders will negotiate a payment plan while the speaker of Iran's parliament is in China on a four day visit
The debt has arisen due to sanctions restricting banking, says Yin Gang, a researcher from China’s Academy of Social Sciences. In an interview with the on Thusday, Gang explained that the payments were blocked by US sanctions of the Bank of Kunlun, which is a unit of the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation.
China is currently Iran’s biggest export market and is the fifth biggest supplier of oil to China. Iran’s exports to China increased by nine per cent between August and September this year, according to the latest Opec report
The US has issued waivers on its sanctions that allow countries like China, India and Japan to continue buying oil so long as they can demonstrate significant decline in the amount they import every six months.
China must reduce oil imports from Iran in the final quarter if it wants to continue to receive the waiver.
According to Gang, Iran has raised the debt in an attempt to bring to light the impact of the latest round of US sanctions on the Iranian economy.