Oil revenues had to be transferred to Iran through intermediary banks and clearance of unpaid dues took a long time, but a part of the debts were settled after the Geneva interim agreement, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar zanganeh said on Tuesday.
Responding to a question on oil revenues in Majlis, Zanganeh said, "We received oil money within 30 to 60 days after opening the line of credit before sanctions were intensified. Nonetheless, once the US tightened the sanctions, the length of clearing oil debts increased to 90 days and in some cases buyers were unable to repay their debts due to international banking restrictions," ISNA reported.
Zanganeh, however, reiterated that all oil dues will be cleared sooner or later and there is nothing to be concerned about.
The minister hoped that as soon as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action took effect, oil dues could be settled faster.
JCPOA was signed in Vienna on 14 July 2015 between Iran and P5+1 (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, plus Germany). The comprehensive agreement places curbs on Iran's nuclear program and lifts sanctions.
According to Valiollah Seif, the governor of Central Bank of Iran, the total amount of "usable funds" that will be released is $23 billion, of which about $6 to $7 billion belong to the government.
Funds belonging to the Iranian government deposited in Indian bank accounts amount to about $6.5 billion. This is the balance of crude oil exports to India since 2012.
Government funds blocked in Chinese bank accounts total $22 billion, which cannot be accessed immediately in the post-sanctions era as they constitute a collateral for Chinese financing of Iranian projects over the past five years. It will stay in Chinese savings accounts until the loan and financing facilities are repaid by the Iranian or Chinese project owners, USNews and World Report cited in its website.
