Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals has said that it was unable to import the contracted volume of crude from Iran during the month of July due to a serious of tough international sanctions against the Islamic republic.

Managing Director PP Upadhya said that the import will soon resume on Indian vessels. He pointed out that the refiner had agreed to import four cargos during July but was able to import only one.\ due to sanctions against tankers from Iran.

State-owned Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals is a subsidiary of ONGC, which is the largest importer of crude oil from Iran in the country. ONGC Chairman Sudhir Vasudeva said MRPL has no plans to stop imports of Iranian crude.

The company might still face problems as Iranian vessels are under sanctions and Indian ships that are to be used for importing will not be able to secure insurance due to sanctions on such dealings by the European Union. Upadhya said MRPL has significantly reduced its long-term contract with Iran from 7.3 million tonne in 2011-12 to 5 million tonne during this financial year.

The Indian government is planning to import about 15.5 million tonnes of crude oil from Iran during the year and it has to find ways to pay bills amid severe financial sanctions against the Islamic republic. Iran is suspected of covertly developing nuclear weapons, a charge it denies and maintains that it has the right to harness civilian nuclear energy for generating power.