Cargo worth over $1 billion stuck outside Iranian ports

At least 40 bulk carrier ships with cargo worth more than $1 billion are stuck outside the major Iranian ports of Bandar Imam Khomeini and Bandar Abbas after weeks of delays as payment snags disrupt flows of goods into the country, Hellenic Shipping News reports. Food is exempt from the West’s sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, but the impact of the sanctions on Iran’s financial system have created complex and erratic payment arrangements with international companies.