Iran calls on UK to take immediate action to pay 40-year debt

In reaction to not paying off the debt by the UK, the statement added that the authorities in the UK have refused to pay the debt under various pretexts such as unlawful and cruel sanctions, causing damage to their reputation in the international arena.

While the British Defense Secretary acknowledges the UK’s 40-year debt to Iran to honor international regulations and to ensure Iran’s national rights, London is expected to take practical and immediate steps to make up for the past so that the Iranians’ dissatisfaction with the UK will not continue, it noted.

The debt is based on an independent legal case that has nothing to do with the release of the prisoner and other matters, and the verdicts had been issued years before the case of the imprisoned offenders, it further noted.

With regard to the amount of the debt, the unreal figures published in the media are far from reality, and according to the time of payment, the final figures will be calculated with the corresponding interest, the statement said.This debt is related to the purchase contract of tanks in 1971 signed by the British Ministry of Defense and the Pahlavi regime according to which the UK was supposed to deliver 1,500 tanks and armored vehicles to Iran.The debt, or court award, originated from the non-delivery of contracts to the Iranian ministry of defense of Chieftain tanks dating back to before 1979.The UK refused to complete the contract after the Shah was deposed, even though Iran had paid the money fully in advance.