Dismissing reports that it is acting under pressure, India today termed as technical the problem in settling the current account transactions with Iran under the Asian Clearing Union, ACU. An External Affairs Ministry press release said that efforts were being made to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
The RBI had on December 23 said companies will be allowed to settle current account and trade transactions with Iran outside ACU, a regional payment arrangement. ACU, based in the Iranian capital Tehran, settles trade transactions from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Maldives, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. India imported 21.3 million tons of crude oil from Iran in 2009-10 and this year imports are expected to be around 18 million tons as Reliance Industries has totally stopped using crude oil from the Persian Gulf nation.