A non-profit organisation today said Reliance Industries (RIL) has stopped gasoline sale to Iran, following a group of US Congressmen urging the country's Exim bank to suspend assistance to the Indian firm, until the Mukesh Ambani-led Indian conglomerate stops business with Iran.
"RIL has ceased gasoline sales to Iran. Its decision follows receipt of a letter to the Treasury department from members of the US Congress expressing concerns about Tehran's development of nuclear weapons, its sponsorship of terrorism and its human rights abuses, especially against Iranian people," Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) said in a statement.
However, RIL spokesperson said, "As a corporate policy and to maintain business confidentiality, we do not comment on specific transactions."
The US Export-Import Bank, which provides support to the US exporters, approved $900 million in loan guarantees to expand the Jamnagar oil refinery used by the RIL to refine petroleum for sale to Iran. Members of Congress wrote letters to the Exim Bank demanding a full investigation into these loan guarantees.
Meanwhile, informed sources said RIL's agreement for supplying gasoline to Iran was till December and the Indian firm has not renewed the contract as financial institutions are not ready to provide Iran with the line of credit needed for the same, in light of the US sanctions.
Further, the Executive Director of FDD, Mark Dubowitz said, "Doing business with Tehran is a serious threat to the reputation of any business."
