Iran frees a South Korean oil tanker it has held for 3 months

Seoul announced today, Friday, that Iran has released an oil tanker flying the South Korean flag that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard had seized in the Gulf waters with its crew of 20 sailors of several nationalities last January.

The South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Iranian authorities released the captain of the tanker, "Hankook Chimi," noting that the ship "sailed safely today."

Foreign sources indicate that Iran aimed to detain the ship to pressure Seoul to release billions of dollars of assets frozen in South Korea under US sanctions, but Tehran has repeatedly denied any link between the seizure of the tanker and the release of its frozen funds, and said it detained it for "violating it." Frequent laws of the marine environment. "

And Tehran had previously confirmed last February that it had allowed "humanitarian reasons" for all crew members to leave, with the exception of its captain, but the bulk of the ship's crew remained on board to ensure its maintenance.

Iran was one of the main oil exporters to South Korea until Seoul stopped its oil purchases from it due to US sanctions that former President Donald Trump reimposed on Tehran in 2018 as part of a policy of "maximum pressure" over its nuclear program.

Agreement with Tehran

Earlier, Seoul said that it had reached an agreement with Tehran last March that allows the release of the frozen Iranian funds amounting to 7 billion dollars, indicating at the same time that putting this agreement into effect needs an American green light.

However, the United States was quick to announce its rejection of this agreement, believing in the words of its Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, that any release of Iranian funds frozen under US sanctions cannot take place before Tehran returns to fully implement its obligations under the nuclear agreement.

In its statement issued today, the South Korean Foreign Ministry did not mention the frozen Iranian funds, but multiple media reports stated that South Korean Prime Minister Chung Se Kyun will visit Tehran soon, without specifying when exactly this visit will take place.