Kolkata. Aug. 26: Tea exports to Iran have taken a hit following Tehran downgrading the beverage on the prioritylist of tradeable items.

Iran imported about 15 million kg tea from India mostly Assam orthodox variety, in last few years.

The payment problem with Iran was triggered after the Reserve Bank of India, in a directive on December 2010, had stated that transaction settlements between India and Iran had to be made outside the Asian clearing union, which was run by the central banks of nine nations