TEHRAN, Iran, July 19
Trend:
The secretary-general of Iran-South Korea Business Council commented on the latest US State Department`s announcement on Iran's frozen funds in South Korea and Japan.
The US State Department said it was allowing Iran to use frozen funds to settle debts in South Korea and Japan, as talks drag on over reviving a nuclear deal that could see sanctions relief.
Referring to the US State Department statement, Pouya Firouzi told Trend that until this news is not officially announced to us, press releases are of no value to us.
"This news must be officially announced to us and the mechanism for releasing Iranian funds in Korean banks must also be determined," he noted. "So far, no change has taken place to open this route."
"Our follow-up is through the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the South Korean Ministry of Economy and Finance," he said. "Negotiations are underway between the two bodies."
Regarding the state of trade relations between Iran and South Korea, Firouzi said that the trend has naturally been declining.
"When there is no access to Iranian resources in South Korea, there will be no positive change," Firouzi added. "If the Iranian frozen assets are released, in the first stage, Iran's assets will be spent based on the country's priority to provide the basic needs such as medicine and medical items," he said.
Firouzi said that after this stage, traders and the private sector will be able to use these assets.
Regarding the priorities of Iran-South Korea trade relations, he said after the sanctions, industrial policies will change.
Firouzi stressed that the next policy towards South Korea will be transferring of knowledge, technology and raw materials for high-tech products.