Iran definitely collected UK payment to settle historic debt: CBI

Iran has rejected media reports claiming that Tehran has yet to receive a payment made by the United Kingdom last month to settle a historic debt.

Spokesman of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said on Thursday that the bank has had full access to London’s £390 million payment to settle a 40-year-old debt related to an unfulfilled military contract.

Mostafa Ghamari Vafa denied a Wednesday report by the Guardian newspaper which claimed that the funds have remained blocked in a bank account in Oman, the country which has mediated in diplomatic disputes between Iran and Western powers.

“Despite the claim by the Guardian paper, the sum of £390 million has been definitely and fully collected by the CBI and there is no problem in using these foreign exchange resources,” Ghamari Vafa said in a post on his Persian Twitter account.

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The payment by the UK in mid-March included the interests that had accrued on the debt for more than four decades.

British authorities had claimed upon releasing the disputed funds that the move was in compliance with sanctions on Iran and that the money will only be used for humanitarian purposes.

The Iranian government rejected those statements and insisted the country will have “full authority and freedom on how to spend its financial resources”.

Both countries have denied speculations that the debt settlement was linked to Iran’s decision last month to release two Iranian-British nationals held in Iran for espionage charges for more than five years.

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