Azerbaijan, Baku, July 24/ Trend M. Moezzi
Seoul thinks about resuming its oil purchases from Iran. It appears the Iranian government will agree to barter its oil for South Korean products.
Mehr news agency reported that Korean delegations are traveling to Iran daily for negotiations over trading oil for items like household appliances.
South Korea stopped importing oil from Iran starting July 1. Seoul decided not only to stop its oil imports, it also reduced exports to Iran as a safeguard against payment defaults.
Officials from LG and Samsung visited Iran last week and discussed that topic with the government and representatives from the private sector.
South Korea bought more than 9 percent of its crude oil from Iran. It is one of the Islamic Republic's five biggest oil customers.
Iran's economy is under increasing pressure from the international sanctions levied against its oil industry and Central Bank because of the country's nuclear development programme. The sanctions make it nearly impossible for Iran to conduct financial transactions and move money around the globe.
July 1 marked the beginning of the European Union's ban on buying Iran's oil. The European companies, which insure almost all of the world's oil tankers, have stopped insuring vessels carrying Iranian oil.
In mid-March, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) expelled a number of Iranian financial institutions, including the Central Bank, making it almost impossible for them to conduct international banking transactions. SWIFT connects 9,700 banking and financial institutions in 209 countries.
