National Development Fund Freezes National Iranian Oil Company Accounts Over About $1 Billion in Debt

Mir-Mohammad-Sadeghi, a member of the executive board of Iran's National Development Fund, explained on Saturday, August 8, 2026 (17 Mordad 1405), in remarks carried by the newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad, why the fund froze the bank accounts of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). He said part of NIOC's debt to the fund had at one point been overdue by about two years, after which officials gave the company roughly six months to set a repayment schedule; despite repeated meetings involving NIOC, its servicing bank, a broker and the fund, and despite an agreed monthly repayment table, some payments stopped again and the debt kept accumulating.

Mir-Mohammad-Sadeghi said the debt in question totals roughly $1 billion, part of which has been pursued through the Bank of Industry and Mine. He added that the matter was meant to go to the fund's board of trustees for a final decision on one or two occasions, but that board, which is supposed to meet twice a year, did not convene regularly over the past year because of the country's conditions, delaying a resolution. He said he hoped the debt would be settled in the near future with NIOC's cooperation.