Unpaid debts to Iran from world petrochemicals and refineries have amounted to 15 to 18 billion dollars among which Greece, India, Shell, BP refineries and Korea Petrochemicals are on top of the list.
Currently, buyers and refiners have debts of over 4 billion dollars to Iran, NIOC manager of International affairs, Seyed Mohsen Ghamsari, was quoted by Mehr news agency as saying.
Ghamsari added, provided that banking and financial sanctions are lifted, oil debts will be cleared. He also reiterated that these refineries have already repaid their debts, yet they have been blocked in foreign accounts.
Responding to a question about Shell's $2.8 billion debt, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told Mehr news agency: As soon as sanctions are terminated, the debt will be transferred to our account.
According to the secretary of Petrochemical Employers Association, Mahdavi, in addition to Asian and European refineries, there are some petrochemical plants including Korea Petrochemicals which are heavily in debt to Iran.
Following eight days of marathon talks on Tehran's nuclear program in the Swiss city of Lausanne, Iran and the P5+1 (five permanent members of UN Security Council, namely Britain, China, France, Russia, the US plus Germany) reached a framework agreement last week that calls for lifting all trade sanctions against Iran. The details of the agreement are to be finalized by a June 30 deadline.
