Indian refiners may be forced to halt imports of Iranian crude oil after insurance firms said refineries processing oil from Iran will no longer be covered, a report said Saturday. Western sanctions aimed at halting Iran's alleged nuclear weapons programme have been seeking to cripple Iranian finances by drying up buyers for its crude and last year banned insurance cover to ships carrying Iranian oil. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRLP), India's second biggest buyer of Iranian oil after private sector Essar Oil, said it may have to halt crude imports from Iran in the absence of insurance cover. "What options do I have?" MRPL Managing Director P.P. Upadhya told the Press Trust of India (PTI). "Insurance companies have said my refinery does not have insurance cover so I am looking at options," he said.