Reuters | Feb 10,2012 | 23:03 JORDAN TIMES
PARIS/TEHRAN — Iran is turning to barter, offering gold bullion in overseas vaults or tanker loads of oil, in return for food as new financial sanctions have hurt its ability to import basic staples for its 74 million people, commodities traders said on Thursday.
Difficulty paying for urgent import needs has contributed to sharp rises in the prices of basic foodstuffs, causing hardship for Iranians with just weeks to go before an election seen as a referendum on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s economic policies.
New sanctions imposed by the US and EU punish Iran for its nuclear programme do not bar firms from selling Iran food but they make it difficult to carry out the international financial transactions needed to pay for it.
Reuters surveys of commodities traders around the globe show that since the start of the year, Iran has had trouble securing imports of basic staples like rice, cooking oil, animal feed and tea.
Grain ships have been held at its ports, refusing to unload until payment can be received for cargo.
With Iran’s rial currency tumbling, the prices of rice, bread and meat in Iranian bazaars have doubled or more in dollar terms in recent months.
Iranian grain importers have in the past side-stepped sanctions by booking business through the UAE, traders said, but this option was cut off by the UAE government in response to sanctions.
Iran has been trading oil in currencies like Japanese yen, South Korean won and Indian rupees, but such deals make it difficult to repatriate profits.
Remember the Iraq sanctions? who suffered most? Surely not Saddam Hussain…
And the people who are pushing the sanctions, can they still sleep well? (I am afraid so…)