Iran, South Korea deadlocked on tanker issue
Iran said it remains some way off resolving a diplomatic dispute with South Korea, which moved up a notch after the seizure of a South Korean-flagged chemical tanker by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) navy near the strategic strait of Hormuz last week.
South Korea's deputy foreign minister Choi Jong-kun arrived in Tehran yesterday to try to secure the release of the Hankuk Chemi and to discuss the issue of around $7bn that Iran says it is owed by Seoul for past crude sales. South Korea has rejected Iran's claim that it seized the tanker because of environmental pollution. Neither side has made an explicit link between the seizure and the frozen funds.
Choi yesterday met with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi, and with several other Iranian officials today, among them foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati. South Korea's foreign ministry said that Choi would use the meetings to renew Seoul's call for Iran to release the tanker and its 20 crew, and ask for evidence that the vessel was polluting.
"There have been discussions [over the past two days]… but, as of today, I cannot tell you that the Korean delegation has come up with any clear proposals," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said today. "These issues will unfortunately linger in the history of the relations between the two sides."
Vortexa showed that the 17,427 deadweight tonne (dwt) Hankuk Chemi departed Jubail, Saudi Arabia, on 3 January and was to arrive at Fujairah, UAE, at 18:30 local time on 4 January. The fully loaded tanker was seized earlier that day and was last seen heading towards Iran's Bander Abbas port.
Araqchi said after his meeting with Choi that South Korea should "refrain from politicising the issue" and allow the legal proceedings to run their course. The Stena Impero — a UK-flagged tanker that was seized by Iran in the strait of Hormuz in mid-2019 — was held by Tehran for more than two months while Iranian courts investigated a number of unspecified maritime charges that were alleged against it.
Regarding the frozen funds, governor Araqchi lay the blame on a lack of political will on the part of Seoul.
"The freezing of Iran's foreign exchange resources in Korea is more due to a lack of political will on the part of the Korean government than the US sanctions," he said, calling on Choi to find a "necessary mechanism" to resolve the issue as a "first priority."
South Korea was one of the biggest buyers of Iranian crude before it halted purchases in early 2019 ahead of the expiry of waivers on US sanctions against Tehran. It imported around 280,000 b/d from Iran in January-April 2019 but has taken none since. Iran has since last year been repeatedly calling on South Korea to return the funds, but to no avail. Speaking today, Hemmati bemoaned Seoul's lack of urgency on the matter.
"It was an important meeting… I reiterated to [Choi] that these resources belong to the Iranian nation, and you cannot joke around with that," he said. "For one and a half years they have been telling us [things will happen] today, tomorrow, in one month." Hemmati said, adding however that he felt Choi would seriously follow up on the issue on his return to Seoul.
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