Tehran, Iran, Nov.28
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Director General of the Asia-Pacific of Iran's Trade Promotion Organization said the Iran-South Korea's trade has been interrupted by sanctions, and Iran's export to South Korea has been reduced by 66 percent from the beginning of this year to the end of October.
"Ninety three percent of Iran's exports to South Korea, including oil and gas condensate, and the other commodities," Mojtaba Mousavian, Director General of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Industries, Mine and Trade Promotion of Iran said today on Monday, IRNA reported.
"In addition to exports, Iran's imports from South Korea fell by 21 percent for some reason, such as a ban on cars and 1,300 other items' export," he said.
"Due to the collapse of trade relations between the two countries, South Korea today is not among the five first-business partners of Iran," said Mousavian.
According to him, the South Korean government's efforts made it one of the countries exempted from US sanctions on purchasing oil from Iran and it will buy oil and gas condensate from Iran for the next six months.
"Oil sales are the basis for importing goods from South Korea, and if oil exports fall, imports from this country will be limited."
"The central banks of two countries are negotiating to create a financial channel for goods or cash to support commercial trades," he added.
The United States in November granted exemptions to eight countries, allowing them to import some Iranian crude for another 180 days. Japan and South Korea were among the top five buyers of Iranian crude and condensate before they stopped imports in the third quarter ahead of the sanctions.
South Korean refineries are set to hold their Iranian oil imports at zero until the end of the year, and they may resume shipments in late January or early February as buyers are in talks with Iran to sign new contracts.