[[{"content_id":"5939","domain_id":"0","lang_id":"en","portal_id":"2","owner_id":"83","user_id":"7","view_accesslevel_id":"0","edit_accesslevel_id":"0","delete_accesslevel_id":"0","editor_id":"0","content_title":"UK admits debt owed to Iran over decades-old defense deal","content_number":"","content_date_event":"2020-09-05 13:09:28","content_summary":"British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has for the first time acknowledged his country\u2019s debt owed to Iran over a decades-old arms deal.","content_summary_fill":"1","content_body":"He made the admission in a letter seen by The Guardian. Wallace said London is seeking ways to pay off the debt to Tehran, which is estimated to be as much as £400 million arising from the non-delivery of tanks ordered by Iran's ousted monarch Mohammad Reza Shah.\r\n\r\nInternational Military Services (IMS), a subsidiary of the British Ministry of Defense, signed contracts in 1971 to sell more than 1,750 Chieftain tanks and armored vehicles to Iran. The deals were cancelled after the Shah was deposed in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but Iran had already paid for the undelivered tanks and demanded its money back.\r\n\r\nAn international arbitration in 2008 ruled the UK owed the debt, but it has not yet paid up.\r\n\r\n“With regard to IMS Ltd and the outstanding legal dispute the government acknowledges there is a debt to be paid and continues to explore every legal avenue for the lawful discharge of that debt,” Wallace wrote.\r\n\r\n“I have previously stated my personal position and I remain committed to its resolution, but it would not be appropriate for me to comment further at this time,” he added.\r\n\r\nBefore becoming defense secretary, Wallace had been sharply critical of the British government’s delay in settling its debt, describing it as “un-British, double-dealing and obfuscatory”.\r\n\r\nBritain has repeatedly refrained from paying the debt, citing illegal sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran.\r\n\r\nBack in March, Iran’s Ambassador to the UK Hamid Baeidinejad announced that London had agreed to pay the £400 million debt it owes to Tehran plus the interest, adding that the two sides were negotiating ways how the payment could be made.\r\n\r\nA further much-postponed court hearing over the debt issue is due to be held on November 4.\r\n\r\nSOURCE: PRESS TV","content_html":"

He made the admission in a letter seen by\u00a0The Guardian<\/em>.\u00a0Wallace said London is seeking ways to pay off the debt to Tehran, which is estimated to be as much as \u00a3400 million arising from the\u00a0non-delivery of tanks\u00a0ordered by Iran's ousted monarch\u00a0Mohammad Reza Shah.<\/p>\n\n

International Military Services (IMS), a subsidiary of the British Ministry of Defense, signed contracts in 1971 to sell more than 1,750 Chieftain tanks and armored vehicles to Iran. The deals were cancelled after the Shah was deposed in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but Iran had already paid for the undelivered tanks and demanded its money back.<\/p>\n\n

An international arbitration in 2008 ruled the UK owed the debt, but it has not yet paid up.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWith regard to IMS Ltd and the outstanding legal dispute the government acknowledges there is a debt to be paid and continues to explore every legal avenue for the lawful discharge of that debt,\u201d Wallace wrote.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cI have previously stated my personal position and I remain committed to its resolution, but it would not be appropriate for me to comment further at this time,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n

Before becoming defense secretary, Wallace had been sharply critical of the British government\u2019s delay in settling its debt, describing it as \u201cun-British, double-dealing and obfuscatory\u201d.<\/p>\n\n

Britain has repeatedly refrained from paying the debt, citing illegal sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran.<\/p>\n\n

Back in March, Iran\u2019s Ambassador to the UK Hamid Baeidinejad announced that London had agreed to pay the \u00a3400 million debt it owes to Tehran plus the interest, adding that the two sides were negotiating ways how the payment could be made.<\/p>\n\n

A further much-postponed court hearing over the debt issue is due to be held on November 4.<\/p>\n\n

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