An Iranian oil official has dismissed reports that the country’s petrodollars have been blocked in Europe, saying Iran faces no problem in accessing its funds in the European states.

“We [Iran] have no problem receiving funds from crude oil sales to the European countries,” Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Ahmad Qalebani said .

He went on to say that the European states willing to purchase the Iranian crude oil must make timely payment for the completed deliveries.

His comments come following some media reports claiming that the funds paid for the Iranian crude deliveries to the European countries were blocked after Iran decided to halt its crude exports to the UK and France.

Earlier on February 4, Iran’s Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi hinted at the possibility of halting oil exports to certain European countries.

The move came in retaliation to an announced decision by EU foreign ministers on January 23 to stop oil imports from Iran, freeze the assets of the country’s Central Bank (CBI) within EU states and ban selling diamonds, gold and other precious metals to Tehran.

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News ID 181534