China News Service, February 2-According to Agence France-Presse, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on February 2 that Iran has allowed the detained South Korean tanker crew to leave Iran.
Earlier, the tanker was seized by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards for "repeated violations of laws and regulations related to the marine environment."
According to reports, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Khatibzad said in a statement: “During Iran’s humanitarian operations, the crew of a South Korean tanker accused of polluting the Persian Gulf environment has been allowed to leave Iran.
On January 4, the Korean transport ship "Korea Chemical", which set off from Saudi Arabia to the UAE, was seized by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards in the Persian Gulf.
There were 20 people on board, including 5 Korean crew members.
South Korean media believe that the arrest of the ship is related to the freezing of Iranian assets in South Korea; Iran said that South Korea should avoid “politicizing” the arrest of oil tankers.
The US government unilaterally withdrew from the comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue in May 2018, and subsequently restarted and added a series of sanctions against Iran.
Affected by this, two South Korean banks have frozen approximately US$7 billion in Iranian assets since September 2019.
Iran has repeatedly asked South Korea not to freeze Iranian funds in South Korea due to US sanctions.