Iran looks east for oil customers TEHRAN, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Iran announced it was making progress in developing its oil consumer base through developing deals with India and new deals with Tajikistan. Iran's decision this week to halt crude oil exports to the United Kingdom and France sent oil prices to nine-month highs. The European Union had set a July 1 deadline for an Iranian crude oil embargo, though Iranian lawmakers voted to pre-empt the EU move. Ali Hatamov, the Tajik envoy to Tehran, said Tajikistan was ready to secure more oil supplies from Iran even though it has most of its demand met by Russia, Iran's state-funded broadcaster Press TV reports. The envoy said, however, that a new pipeline was needed between the countries to facilitate oil deliveries. Meanwhile, India announced that it booked additional crude oil cargoes from Iran despite sanctions pressure on the financial mechanisms needed to process payments for Iranian crude. In a move meant to get around tightening sanctions imposed on Iran, New Delhi will pay 45 percent of its debt using rupees an Indian bank account opened by Iran. India had paid about $1 billion per month through Turkish channels for Iranian crude.