Tehran, Seoul agree on mechanism for return of frozen assets
Tehran, Seoul agree on mechanism for return of frozen assetsIranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the mechanism for returning Iranian assets from South Korea has been agreed upon by the parties.
Referring to the blockade of Iranian assets in South Korea, Zarif said, “Last week, I had a conversation with the Foreign Minister of South Korea at his request. The Korean minister stated that they are doing their best to reach a conclusion, and we are following up on our part.”
“Mechanisms have been agreed, but apparently the Koreans have not yet received the necessary permits, so they say they are pursuing the issue,” he added.
“Iran thinks that it is not necessary to obtain a license from the Americans, but the Korean side is still trying to obtain this license from the United States to release Iranian blocked assets in Korea,” Zarif noted.
The Korean foreign ministry said last Tuesday that the Iranian assets locked in South Korea will be released after consultations with the United States. “Our government has been in talks with Iran about ways to use the frozen assets, and the Iran side has expressed its consent to the proposals we have made.”
“The actual unfreezing of the assets will be carried out through consultations with related countries, including the United States,” it added.
The announcement came after the Central Bank of Iran said it had reached an agreement with South Korea on the release of frozen Iranian assets in the East Asian country.
Since 2019 when then US president, Donald Trump, ended the US sanctions waivers for South Korea to buy Iran’s oil, Tehran and Seoul have been at loggerheads over the latter’s blocking of some seven billion dollars of Iran’s cash assets.
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