Iran said on Sunday that it had reached an agreement with Austria to receive payments for sales of oil and condensate to international clients through the country�s third largest bank, Raiffeisen Zentralbank �sterreich AG (RZB).�

Hossein Yaqoubi-Miab, the director for international affairs of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), said the CBI has reached a deal with RZB to open an account to receive euro payments by international clients for their oil transactions with Iran.

Yaqoubi-Miab said the account will be opened within the next two weeks, adding that the Austrian bank has announced readiness to create a similar mechanism for other Iranian banks.

The announcement comes as reports recently said global corporate leaders are complaining that complications related to dollar-based transactions are still hampering business with Iran.

This appears to have been mostly a result of a legacy of hefty fines by the US on banks that have been caught for handling dollar transactions with Iran which is still subject to primary US sanctions.

This has reportedly led the administration of President Barack Obama to take measures to allow limited access to the dollar in Iran-related deals, as reported by the media last week.

Meanwhile, reports emerged on Sunday that certain European banks have already started to re-engage with Iran.

The banks are Belgium�s KBC, Germany�s DZ Bank and Austria�s Erste Bank that they have reportedly started handling transactions on behalf of European clients doing business in Iran.

Nevertheless, bigger European banks remain on the sidelines, �scarred by a string of multibillion-dollar fines for earlier sanctions breaches in Iran�, reported the Financial Times.

By Press TV