Amid Dispute Over Frozen Funds: Iran frees South Korean Tanker

According to a South Korean official, Iran has released a South Korean ship and its captain detained since January after South Korea pledged to try to secure the release of Iranian assets frozen in South Korean banks under US sanctions.

News agency IRNA reported the Iranian foreign ministry said the chemical tanker, HANKUK CHEMI, was released after an investigation into environmental pollution and at the request of the South Korean government and its owner.

The January seizure of the tanker in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman sparked a diplomatic row after Iran demanded that South Korea release $7 billion in funds frozen in South Korean banks due to US sanctions.

The frozen funds were not mentioned in the IRNA article, however other Iranian media quoted an unnamed Iranian official as saying that Korean officials had assured him that “they are trying to solve the problem and improve ties.”

In a statement, the South Korean ministry confirmed that the ship had left Iran after completing administrative procedures. Though, it made no mention of the demand for funds to be published.

The captain and sailors are in good health, the ministry said. According to a South Korean foreign ministry official, both parties decided that the ship and the funds were unrelated problems, and South Korea offered to assist in getting the money released.

“We have conveyed our firm commitment to overcome the fund issue,” said the official, who declined to be identified.

Iranian authorities accused the tanker of polluting the waters with chemicals, which South Korea denied. According to the South Korean official, Iran has abandoned plans to press criminal charges against the shipping firm.

“With long coastlines in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, Iran emphasises full compliance with maritime legislation, especially environmental protection, and tracks any violation in this regard,” said Saeed Khatibzadeh, a foreign ministry spokesman cited by IRNA.

After a South Korean vice foreign minister visited Tehran in February, Iran agreed to release all but the captain of the ship's 20 crew members.

Iran has refuted charges of hostage-taking in connection with the capture of the tanker and its crew, claiming that South Korea was keeping Iranian funds hostage.

The assets have been frozen as a result of US sanctions reimposed on Tehran in 2018 after then-President Donald Trump withdrew from Iran's 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers.

In Biden's administration, the US and Iran have started indirect talks about resuming the agreement.

The US recently decided to accept Iran to use the funds for non-military purposes, and it has spent some on coronavirus vaccines obtained through the global COVAX initiative, according to a ministry official, without specifying the number.