Iran on Tuesday said it continues to import fuel from Reliance Industries, a statement that flies in the face of the claims by Mukesh Ambani firm that it had since last year stopped selling gasoline to the Islamic nation in an apparent bid to escape U.S. sanctions.
“From our point of view, Reliance stopping gasoline exports to Iran is not correct,” Iranian Ambassador to India Syed Mehdi Nabizadeh told reporters here.
Reliance till 2008 mostly sold gasoline (petrol) to Iran, and late last year sources close to the company claimed that it had since April 2009 completely stopped shipments from its twin refineries at Jamnagar in Gujarat to that country.
When contacted, Reliance spokesperson declined comments.
The U.S. is seeking to restrict gasoline supplies from refiners to Iran over its suspected nuclear weapons programme.
Some U.S. Senators have proposed giving President Barack Obama the authority to impose sanctions against companies supplying gasoline to Iran.
“All I can say is it (fuel imports from Reliance) has not stopped,” Nabizadeh said.
Asked if Reliance was directly selling fuel to Iran or petrol cargoes sold to traders were being redirected from ports such as Dubai after minor blending, he said: “You know that better than me... we continue to get (fuel from Reliance).”
