Sri Lanka pays $ 5 million a month in oil debt to Iran

Iran has agreed with Sri Lanka to pay its $ 251 million oil debt in the form of Ceylon tea, according to the Middle East Monitor.

Sri Lankan Minister of Agriculture Ramesh Patirana announced: Ceylon brand tea equivalent to oil debt is to be sent to Iran from January.

He added: “We hope to be able to repay $ 5 million a month in repayment of our oil debts, which have been delayed for the past four years.”

He stressed: “This agreement does not violate US sanctions against Iran in any way, because tea is classified in the food group and is out of the US sanctions list.” The agreement was signed by Sri Lankan Minister of Agriculture Patirana and Alireza Peyman Pak, head of the Trade Development Organization of Iran.

“We have agreed to repay the debts and we are going to receive a $ 5 million Sri Lankan tea product a month,” Peyman Pak said in a statement.

According to the report, Sri Lanka produces 340 million kilograms of tea annually, and about 5 percent of the population is engaged in a multi-billion dollar industry, most of which are women.

Iran is also one of the largest consumers of tea in the world and provides a large part of its needs from imports.

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