Dispute over frozen Iranian funds; South Korea summons Iranian ambassador to Seoul

The Iranian ambassador to South Korea was summoned in protest of statements by Islamic Republic officials regarding Iranian oil money frozen in the country. Iran had threatened to sue South Korea in international forums.

According to the Korea Times, South Korea's Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador to the country on Tuesday, July 21, to express its dissatisfaction with statements by Iranian officials regarding Iranian oil revenues frozen in the country. Iran has threatened to file a complaint against South Korea in international forums if the money is not released.

Koh Kyung-suk, Director of Africa and the Middle East at the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed “regret” regarding the recent statements by Abbas Mousavi, Spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a meeting with Saeed Badamchi Shabestari, Iranian Ambassador to Seoul.

Abbas Mousavi recently told reporters: "If the South Korean government does not draw any conclusions from diplomatic activities and continues to support America's rebellions, we will summon the country's ambassador and pursue Iran's legal demands through international authorities."

The Korea Times quoted Kim In-chul, a spokesman for the South Korean Foreign Ministry, as saying that the Iranian ambassador called for understanding and said that the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman's remarks "are not the official position of the Iranian government."

The oil revenues from Iran amount to $7 billion, which have been frozen in two South Korean banks since September last year, when temporary US sanctions waivers for buying oil from Iran ended. Tehran and Seoul had agreed to conduct trade in South Korean currency due to US sanctions, so that the country could buy Iranian oil and export goods to Iran in return.

The Korea Times wrote that Iran's economy is facing serious challenges posed by sanctions and the coronavirus outbreak, and the Islamic Republic is trying to get its frozen money from South Korea.

Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said last week about Iran's frozen money: "This amount is very important to us in the current situation, and South Korea's behavior is incomprehensible, and we think there is no legal or regulatory prohibition against returning it." He called on South Korea to "reconsider its action before it is too late and affects the long-term relations between the two countries."

According to the Korea Times, Seoul has been trying to resume sending humanitarian goods such as medicine and medical equipment to Iran in recent months to help Tehran fight the coronavirus and maintain trade relations. The newspaper cited South Korea’s export of $500,000 worth of medicine to Iran in late May as part of the aid. This was South Korea’s first humanitarian export to Iran since last year.

Source: DW