Iranian Central Bank Governor Mahmud Bahmani said Sunday.
Bahmani said the arrears totaled $5 billion.
Indian payments were halted in December when India’s central bank refused to clear payments any longer for fear of running afoul of US banking restrictions.
The payment method finally adopted involves clearance through a Turkish bank.
Bahmani said India had sought to make part of the payment on a barter basis with Iran accepting some Indian-made goods. But Bahmani said Iran refused.
A few decades ago, the Islamic Republic was vocally advocating barter deals with other countries, saying they would be mutually advantageous. Most analysts laughed at that and said Iran only pushed the idea because it was short of cash. Iran is now floating in oil revenues and is no longer interested in barter deals, suggesting the critics of the past had it right all the time.
India buys about 400,000 barrels of Iranian crude daily, or about one-sixth of Iran’s crude exports.