LONDON (Reuters) – An official to Iran’s ministry of trade said on Friday that the country had imported four million tonnes of wheat since late April, the semi-official ILNA news website reported.
“This year 4.5 tonnes of wheat were bought from Iranian farmers ... And since late April, 4 million tonnes of wheat were imported,” ILNA quoted Hassan Hanan, the deputy of Government Trading Corporation as saying.
Food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies including animal feed are exempt from U.S. sanctions, re-imposed in 2018 after the United States pulled out of Iran’s nuclear deal with six world powers, but authorities say the step has nevertheless deterred some foreign banks from doing any Iranian business, including food shipments.
Tehran and world powers are due resume talks aimed at reviving the 2015 pact on Nov. 29.
The Government Trading Corporation (GTC) of Iran said in a report this month wheat imports would reach record levels until March amid a sharp fall in the domestic crop caused by drought.
It said in addition to the $1.2 billion worth of imported wheat, Iran had imported 5.5 million tonnes of corn and 2.2 million tonnes of barley.