When the US imposed a new round of sanctions last week, officials said the main new part of the sanctions was an effort to stop foreign investment in and development of petrochemical projects in Iran.
The Mehr news agency Sunday quoted Abdol-Hossain Bayat, managing director of the National Iranian Petrochemical Co., as saying Oman had withdrawn—but insisting the withdrawal had nothing to do with sanctions.
Bayat was quoted as saying Oman refused to continue as a result of a dispute over the price of raw materials.
An agreement for Oman to work on the project was signed in 2009. The Hormuz plant is to be built at Assaluyeh on the Persian Gulf coast with an investment of $500 million to produce 1.6 million tons annually of ammonia and urea.
The newest batch of US sanctions is geared to blocking the provision of goods or services by non-American firms to Iran’s petrochemical projects.