TEHRAN — Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Wednesday that an Iranian delegation went to Seoul to look into the possibility of resuming exports of Iranian oil and gas condensate to South Korea.

“An expert delegation from the Islamic Republic of Iran consisting of banking and oil experts held talks in Seoul this week with South Korean officials and companies,” Khatibzadeh said in response to a question regarding reports about the delegation’s visit to South Korea. 
 
The visit took place as negotiators from Iran and other parties present in Vienna have reportedly succeeded to narrow down their differences over reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Before former U.S. President Donald Trump quit the nuclear deal and imposed the harshest sanctions in history on Iran in line with his maximum pressure campaign against Tehran, the Republic of Korea was one of the major importers of oil and gas condensate from Iran.

Khatibzadeh noted that the visit happened in line with Iran’s policy to develop relations with Asian countries in a balanced way and after the deputy foreign ministers of Iran and South Korea met in Vienna.

He reiterated that the Iranian side used this opportunity, in consultation with the South Korean officials, to underline the need to unfreeze Iran's assets held illegally in South Korea.

The foreign ministry spokesman noted that the results of the expert meeting could serve as a test of Seoul’s seriousness to resolve the two countries' differences and restore the relations to normal, including sale of oil and gas condensate to South Korea and also investment by the country’s companies in Iran’s economic projects.

For this reason, Khatibzadeh stressed, Iran will carefully follow the results of these negotiations and will take the results into account in regulating relations with Seoul.