Huge food cargoes to Iran stuck in transit

London

PAYMENT problems are disrupting commercial food cargoes to Iran, with hundreds of thousands of tonnes of grain and sugar stuck in transit, as Western banking sanctions complicate deals and trade financiers scale back exposure.

Iran is not barred from buying food or other "humanitarian" goods under sanctions imposed over Teheran's pursuit of nuclear technology, but measures by the European Union and the United States have made trade more difficult over the past two years.

Several international trade sources, with knowledge of deals that have been af…