Senior MP Warns of Iran's Reciprocal Move against S. Korea's Asset Freezing

A senior member of the Iran's Majlis Presiding Board blasted South Korea for freezing Iran's funds, and said the government of President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi is needed to adopt reciprocal measures against Seoul. "We should take reciprocal measures against South Korea for blocking Iran's assets," Mojtaba Yousefi said. He called for the Iranian government's strong response to South Korea for obeying the US in showing animosity towards independent countries like Iran. The Iranian social media users have also in the past few weeks called for blocking South Korea's assets in reaction to Seoul's freezing of Iranian funds.

In relevant remarks earlier this month, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Ali Baqeri Kani underlined that the only way that South Korea can repair its tainted face before Tehran is to resist against the US pressures and return the funds frozen in the country. Baqeri Kani said that he had pressed South Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong Kun in a phone conversation held earlier in the day for a repatriation of the funds held in two South Korean banks for more than three years.

“I reminded him (Choi) that only an effective and quick action to remove restrictions on Iranian funds in South Korea and compensating the costs incurred could effectively repair this country’s tarnished image among the Iranian people,” he wrote on his twitter page. South Korea owes Iran over US$7 billion for imports of energy that took place before the US imposed its unilateral sanctions on Tehran in mid-2018. Seoul says US sanctions on Iran effectively bars transactions involving the funds while authorities in the East Asian country insist they are waiting for a new agreement between Iran and world powers to revive a 2015 nuclear agreement that could allow the funds to release.

However, South Korea’s full compliance with US secondary sanctions, which can only apply to US citizens and those having businesses in the US, has caused public uproar in Iran with calls increasing for a boycott on electronic products and home appliances manufactured in South Korea. The Iranian government announced an outright ban on imports of home appliances earlier this month after it emerged that import companies were preparing to place orders for new shipments from two major South Korean brands.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian underlined that South Korea must swiftly provide the Islamic Republic access to the funds that Seoul has been withholding from Tehran on the pretext of abiding by the US sanctions. The Iranian foreign minister made the remarks in a telephone conversation with his South Korean counterpart Chung Eui-yong. Amir Abdollahian voiced Iran's strong criticism to the continued freezing of the Iranian funds at South Korea’s banks.

The top Iranian diplomat reiterated that the money should be released so the Islamic Republic in a bid that the country could use it towards buying medicine and other commodities. "The Iranian nation is seriously displeased with the situation that has been brought about as a result of cessation of trade activities between the countries—on the back of the American economic measures—and prevention of application of the funds even towards purchase of humanitarian items," Amir Abdollahian said. Chung, for his part, said that he was pursuing the issue of Iran’s access to the frozen funds. He, meanwhile, expressed concern regarding the actions that the Islamic Republic has been taking concerning the Korean imports. - Fars