TEHRAN – Iran’s new ambassador to Seoul, Saeed Badamchi-Shabestari, on Wednesday submitted his letter of credentials to South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

In an official ceremony held at Cheong Wa Dae, known as the Blue House, the Iranian ambassador along with five other new envoys from Brazil, Canada, Fiji, Sudan, and Croatia handed their letters of credentials to Moon.

President Moon said cooperation between Iran and his country continued even at the “toughest time” in the 1970s and even in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq war.

The president also predicted that sanctions-related problems between the two countries will be resolved in the future.

Moon also thanked Iran for backing conciliatory moves on the Korean peninsula, a reference to the peace talks between South and North Korea.

The ambassador sent President Hassan Rouhani’s warm greetings to Moon and called for strong relations in areas of economy, politics and culture between the two nations.

Ambassador Badamchi-Shabestari also praised Moon for his efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and expressed the Islamic Republic’s backing for such a policy.

The envoy also expressed hope that problems created in Iran-Korea interactions especially those related to banking and financial transactions, which have been created due to the reimposition of sanctions on Iran by the Trump administration, would be resolved through efforts by President Moon.

Badamchi-Shabestari had previously served as the director general for East Asia and Oceania at the Iranian Foreign Ministry and charge d’affairs in the Iranian embassy in Beijing. He replaced Hassan Taherian.

Shabestari started his diplomatic mission in Korea on October 11.
 
MH/PA