<p>India's top state-owned refiner Indian Oil Corp could pay a part of its oil import dues to Iran as early as this month, a senior company executive said on Thursday (13 August).<br><br>Indian refiners had got approval to pay Iran $1.4 billion in oil dues, Reuters reported earlier, in one of the first signs a nuclear deal with six major world powers is helping Tehran unlock frozen funds.<br><br>The company's finance director A.K. Sharma told reporters that while there was no immediate timeline for the payment, a partial payment could be possible this month.<br><br>Indian Oil has still to pay around $500 million to Iran, Sharma said.<br><br>India, the world's fourth-largest oil consumer, has run up a $6.5 billion bill for Iranian oil that it has been largely unable to pay because banking channels were blocked by Western financial sanctions.<br><br>(Reuters)</p>
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