[Exclusive] "Iran is more likely to seize a Korean ship before June"

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Last year, a Korean merchant ship, the Korea Chemi, was taken to Iran and only released after 95 days.

However, there were signs that something similar could happen again in the near future, so our government took an emergency response.

This is the exclusive report by reporter Kim Min-jung.

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column was published in Iran's influential media on the 16th and 18th in the name of the editor.

"Let's block the passage of Korean ships in the Strait of Hormuz to receive frozen funds."

At the time, the Iranian ambassador to Korea explained, "This is not an official position of the government."

However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs judged that it was a warning letter aimed at the second Korean Chemi, and began to respond urgently.

In addition to sharing the contents of the column with the US authorities, he also made contact with world-class research institutes dealing with international conflicts.

In an interview with SBS after meeting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, team leader Ali Baez, an Iranian expert at the International Crisis Management Group, explained that the contents of the column would not be much different from the Iranian government's position.

[Ali Baez / Iranian Team Leader, Crisis Management Group: The editor of the media is appointed by the Iranian supreme leader.

He mostly serves as a spokesperson for the Iranian regime.

The threat from the media is a real threat.]

In particular, I saw a high possibility of provocation in conjunction with the regime change in South Korea before June, when additional US sanctions for inspections of the International Atomic Energy Agency were expected.

[Ali Baez/Leader of Crisis Management Group Iran: The Iranian government will try to test the new government of Korea.

At the end of May or June, along with tensions between Iran and the West, tensions between Iran and Korea will also rise significantly.]

The Strait of Hormuz is a key waterway connecting the Middle East, with 20 to 30 Korean merchant ships passing through it every day.

If the Iranian threat escalates, trade to and from the Middle East will be inevitably affected.

(Video coverage: Park Dae-young, video editing: Choi Jin-hwa)

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[Reporter Kim Min-jung: It is because of Iran's oil export proceeds tied to Korea.

The money that Iran should receive from selling crude oil to Korea is still in Korean banks.

Due to U.S. sanctions on Iran, the money has not been remitted to Iran and is still tied up.

This is 7 billion dollars, more than 8 trillion won in our money.

As Iran has suffered from economic difficulties due to long-standing economic sanctions, the level of pressure to return funds is increasing.]

[Reporter Kim Min-jung: It is virtually difficult to return the money without the decision of the United States to hold on to sanctions.

Iran is also well aware of this, so taking our ships as hostages to threaten them seems to be a demonstration against the United States after all.

So it is time to make diplomatic efforts with the United States.

In relation to this, a while ago, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1st Vice Minister Choi Jong-gun had a phone call with the US special envoy to Iran and exchanged views on pending issues between Korea and Iran.

The notice also contained such content that the U.S. had requested that the negotiations to restore the nuclear deal with Iran, from which the United States withdrew, be progressed as soon as possible.

Experts are stressing that the Iran issue should be put on the agenda at the Korea-US summit scheduled for next month and that the situation should be fully communicated.

Team leader Baez, who appeared in the report earlier, also mentioned that the Korea-US summit was a very important opportunity to find a solution]

(Video Edit: Jeong Seong-Hoon)