Letters of credit (L/Cs) are not the only method of payment for Iranian oil according to an official who appears determined to overcome the obstacles placed on the Islamic republic's exporters by sanctions imposed by Washington.

The sanctions, imposed directly on US banks, have deterred banks from across the world from writing L/C business with Iran.

Under pressure

Hojjatollah Ghanimifard of the state-run National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) recently told the news agency Reuters that the world's third biggest oil exporter would always find a way to carry on its oil trade, which earned the country US$70 billion last year.

"Iran has worked around America's pressure on our oil transactions," said Ghanimifard, who is international affairs director at NIOC. "We are disarming those who made threats against us," he added.

US and Europe

After US banks stopped writing Iranian L/C business several European and other banks worldwide followed suit.

"That did not hurt us. We found other banks," Ghanimifard told Reuters.

Other solutions

He said Iran had shifted away from using some European banks to ones in other regions and had also begun using different methods of payment.

L/Cs are not the only solution - other payment instruments are available to Iran, Ghanimifard said.

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