Iran, S. Korea discuss frozen assets payment, oil trade resumption

February 16, 2022 - 11:7

TEHRAN- Iran and South Korea discussed the details of the options to pay Iran’s frozen assets in Seoul and also the possibility of resuming oil trade in preparation for potential U.S. sanctions relief on Iran, during the two-day meetings from Tuesday, Yonhap reported.

South Korea and Iran have held working-level consultations to discuss ways to resolve yearslong disputes over Tehran's assets frozen here under U.S. sanctions, Seoul's foreign ministry said Wednesday.

Iranian bankers and officials from the state-run oil company and the petroleum ministry are in the nation to meet with South Korean government and company officials to talk about pending economic issues as multilateral talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal enter the final stretch.

Bilateral relations remain frayed over $7 billion in Iranian funds locked in two Korean banks under U.S. sanctions, which were reimposed after former President Donald Trump in 2018 withdrew from the landmark deal.

Iran, which sits on the world's fourth-largest oil reserves, had been a key oil supplier to South Korea, importing its goods such as industrial equipment, household appliances and vehicle parts.

In a decree in early October 2021, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei banned the import of home appliances from South Korea. The order by the Leader came after local producers sought Leader’s help in this regard.

Bowing to illegal pressure by the United States, South Korea has not only been withholding about seven billion dollars of Iranian oil revenues, its two famous home appliances producers- LG and Samsung- also left the Iranian market.