Iran urges South Korea to release frozen funds regardless of Vienna talks

Top negotiator Ali Baqeri Kani on Thursday urged South Korea to release Iran’s frozen funds and not to await the outcome of ongoing talks in Vienna for the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal.

"Whatever the result of the negotiations in Vienna, the South Korean government has a duty to unblock Iran's frozen funds, and the unilateral American sanctions cannot justify non-payment of these debts," Baqeri Kani told South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun in the Austrian capital, according to IRNA.  

He also underlined that South Korea's “unjustifiable” refusal to repay its debts to Iran would be “a dark spot in the history of relations between the two countries”, adding that Seoul should act as soon as possible to unfreeze Iran's assets.

Last year Iran warned that it would take legal action unless South Korea released more than $8 billion in frozen funds for oil shipments.

Iran had been one of South Korea's main suppliers of crude before the 2018 US withdrawal from the nuclear agreement and the reimposition of sanctions on the Islamic Republic. 

Iranian authorities have said on several occasions that they expect South Korea to do more on the release of the assets blocked at two South Korean banks under the pretext of the United States’ sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The meeting between Iran’s deputy foreign minister and his South Korean counterpart was not directly linked to the negotiations underway in Vienna to restore the nuclear agreement, JCPOA, and took place at the request of South Korea.

Pointing to the significance of Seoul-Tehran relations, Choi, for his part, offered explanations about Iran’s blocked funds in South Korea and said his country is making efforts to repay its debt to Iran.

In a tweet on Thursday, Choi said he "had a good meeting" with Baqeri Kani in Vienna.

"We exchanged views on our bilateral relationship including the frozen fund," he said, AFP reported. "Korea and Iran will work together and preserve our historically important relationship."

‘Urgent manner’

In a statement on Tuesday, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said its delegation aimed to "explore ways to resolve the issue of frozen Iranian assets in Korea on the sidelines" of the nuclear talks.

Choi and Baqeri Kani“agreed that the release of the frozen assets should take place in an urgent manner,” the statement said.

“The two sides agreed to hold working-level talks between experts to discuss technical issues related to the transfer of the frozen assets.”

In addition to consultations with Iran, this would involve "close coordination and communication" with the US, European Union, France, Germany and Britain, the South Korean statement said.

France, Germany and the UK are participating in the talks about the 2015 deal, along with Russia and China, while the US is indirectly involved.

Source: Iran Daily