TEHRAN, Iran, June 15
Trend:
Iranian President has ordered the Central Bank of Iran to follow the issue of Iran's frozen assets in South Korean banks, said the government spokesman.
"The issue of Iran's frozen assets in South Korean banks is related to Iran's oil and gas condensate export, and the money is still on accounts of the Central Bank of Iran in South Korean banks," said Ali Rabiei, Trend reports citing IRNA.
"There is no obstacle in using these sources to import basic goods and medicines, although the US sanctions affected the import of medicine by using Iran's foreign currency sources abroad," Rabiei said.
"It seems the South Korean government is not keen on cooperation due to unknown reasons. The Central Bank of Iran is constantly following the issue since 2018 and various solutions have been offered," the spokesman added.
"We hope the South Korean government would release the sources immediately. The US has issued sanctions waiver for South Korea to purchase Iran oil; therefore, South Korea's reasons for freezing Iran assets are not justified," he said. "Such behavior will certainly affect our future bilateral cooperation," he added.
On June 12, Hossein Tanhaee, the chairman of Iran and South Korea’s joint chamber of commerce told Iranian media that Iran’s frozen assets in South Korea vary between $6.5 billion and $9 billion.
Tanhaee added that Korean banks not only refuse to release Iran’s money; some of them have also demanded commission and maintenance fees for Iran’s accounts.