There is no money in China that may belong to Iran but has been ordered frozen [as the result of sanctions], Zanganeh told reporters in a press conference in Tehran. Still, it is the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) that should comment on Irans overall frozen assets.
The Iranian minister further said it is India that currently owes Iran money over exports of crude to the country. He said New Delhi will soon pay the money to Tehran.
It had been previously reported that an equal of above $20 billion of Irans petrodollars are frozen in Chinese banks as the result of sanctions. Accordingly, officials in Tehran said plans are underway to retrieve the amount through Chinese investments in Iranian infrastructure projects including building petrochemical plants, subways, etc.
Media reports earlier said China together with India and Japan hold a total of $100 billion of frozen Iran cash as the result of sanctions.
With the progress in Iran-P5+1 nuclear talks over the past few years, the international banks started to unfreeze Iranians assets that they had been holding as the result of the sanctions. Iran has so far accumulated about $10 billion of its frozen assets in through a series of phased installments.
By Press TV
# Tags
