No import of LG and Samsung products from South Korea

Some media outlets have claimed that the U.S. Administration has let South Korea sell LG and Samsung products in exchange for Iran’s frozen assets.

But Pouya Firouzi in an interview with ILNA refuted this allegation and said that this report is baseless, adding that after contact with Soul, the chamber learned that the report is baseless because there has not been such an issue.

He added that in the past there were some talks on payment of Iran’s debts to the Korean companies from its frozen assets in Seoul and it dates back to the pre-reimposition of sanctions.

Firouzi reiterated that in case Iran’s assets are released, the country’s priority is not the import of home appliance and import of medical and health commodities are on the top of the list.

He said the chamber has several meetings with Korean officials and they have been informed of Iran’s concerns.

He reiterated that macro decisions like releasing the funds and ways of release will be made through the governments and so far no opening has happened.

Late August, the South Korean ambassador to Tehran said that his country seeks to revive trade relations with Iran, adding that Iran’s dissatisfaction with South Korea’s stance on U.S. sanctions is sensible.

He made the remarks in a meeting with the head of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce in Tehran.

Yun Kang-hyeon pointed to a previous meeting he had held with the former Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, saying that the then Iranian president had expressed his frustration with the South Korean stance on the U.S. sanctions against Iran.

"U.S. sanctions against Iran harmed both the Iranian nation in the first place as well as the Korean economy to a lesser extent."

He put the amount of frozen Iranian assets in South Korea at $7 billion, saying that his country is interested in paying back the blocked financial resources to Iran in necessary ways.

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