Iran doesn’t accept mediation in Korean oil tanker case

Regarding the latest situation surrounding the seizure of South Korean oil tanker in Iran and Seoul’s request from Qatar to mediate between Iran and South Korea to help resolve the matter, Khatibzadeh said “During the recent visit by Korean delegation to Tehran, we asked them why they want to resolve the issue of seizure of the Korean tanker, which is a technical issue, politically?”

 “As we said before, the oil tanker was seized due to the pollution of the marine environment in the Persian Gulf and this is an issue which is important for all countries and all countries are sensitive about it,” he added.

 “We don’t accept political mediation in technical issues and informed officials in South Korea,” Khatibzadeh continued.

Rejecting allegations that Iran seized the oil tanker to put pressure on Seoul to release Iranian financial assets frozen in South Korea, Khatibzadeh said, “We have already used different ways to unblock Iran’s currency resources which have illegally blocked by Korean banks and the recent trip by First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Korea to Tehran was in this regard”.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Khatibzadeh said, “Tehran has acted responsibly in the region and even condoned some of the mistakes of the countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia”.

 “The Saudis may have some concerns, and we are ready to talk to them about these concerns, which are sometimes illusory and imaginary,” he added.

 “Despite the obstruction of some regional countries including Saudi Arabia against Iran, we have always stressed that the countries of the region must reach a common understanding on regional issues in order to achieve the necessary security mechanism in this regard,” Khatibzadeh noted.

 “Unfortunately, some countries in the Persian Gulf including Saudi Arabia have not responded to Iran’s proposals in this regard,” he added.

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