Last year, the 'Korean Chemi' incident occurred on the high seas of the Strait of Hormuz, where it was taken to Iran and released after paying a large sum of money. I did.
On the 16th and 18th, a column in the name of the editor-in-chief in Iran's influential media was published, "Let's block the passage of Korean ships in the Strait of Hormuz to receive frozen funds."
At that time, the Iranian ambassador to Korea explained that it was "not the official position of the government," but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs judged it to be a warning letter aimed at the second Korean Chemi, and launched an emergency response.
While sharing the contents of the column with the US authorities, we invited Ali Baez, an Iranian expert from the International Crisis Management Group that deals with international disputes, to discuss solutions.
In an interview with SBS, team leader Baez emphasized, "The Iranian threat is real because the editor of the media is appointed by the Iranian supreme leader and acts as a spokesperson for the Iranian regime."
In particular, I thought that the possibility of provocation is high in line with the regime change in South Korea before June, when additional sanctions by the United States for inspections of the International Atomic Energy Agency are expected.
It is analyzed that Iran's threat of provocation is because US sanctions on Iran have tied up US$7 billion of Iran's crude oil exports to domestic banks.
"One of the most important solutions is to share the current situation and find a solution by putting the Iran issue on the agenda at the Korea-US summit next month," said Baez.