SEOUL — Iran released on Friday a South Korean ship and its
captain detained since January after South Korea promised to try to secure the
release of Iranian funds frozen in South Korean banks under US sanctions, a
South Korean official said.
اضافة اعلان
The Iranian foreign ministry said the chemical tanker,
Hanuk Chemi, was released after an investigation into environmental pollution,
and at the request of the South Korean government and its owner, state news
agency IRNA reported.
The seizure of the tanker in the Strait of Hormuz off Oman
in January had triggered a diplomatic dispute after Iran demanded that South
Korea release $7 billion in funds frozen in South Korean banks under US
sanctions.
The IRNA report made no mention of the frozen funds, but
other Iranian media quoted an unnamed Iranian official as saying Korean
officials had given assurances that "they are trying to solve the problem
and to strengthen ties."
The South Korean ministry said in a statement the ship had
left Iran after completing administrative procedures. It made no mention of the
demand for the release of funds.
"The captain and sailors are in good health," the
ministry said.
A South Korean foreign ministry official told reporters that
both sides had agreed the ship and the funds were not related issues and South
Korea promised to help get the money released.
"We have expressed our firm willingness to resolve the
fund issue," said the official, who declined to be identified.
Iranian authorities had accused the tanker of polluting the
waters with chemicals, a charge denied by South Korea. The South Korean
official said Iran dropped a plan to pursue seek criminal charges against the
shipping company.
"Iran, with long coastlines in the Persian Gulf and the
Sea of Oman, stresses full compliance with maritime regulations, including
environmental protection, and monitors every violation in this respect,"
said Saeed Khatibzadeh, a foreign ministry spokesman quoted by IRNA.
Iran agreed to free all of the ship's 20 crew members except
for the captain in February, after a South Korean vice foreign minister visited
Tehran.
Iran has denied allegations that the seizure of the tanker
and its crew constituted hostage-taking, saying it was South Korea that was
holding Iranian funds hostage.
The freezing of the funds is linked to US sanctions that
Washington reimposed on Tehran in 2018 after then-President Donald Trump
withdrew from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Under the Biden administration, the United States and Iran
have begun indirect talks over a return to the accord.
The United States has recently agreed to allow Iran to use
the funds for non-military purposes and it has spent some on coronavirus
vaccines secured via the global COVAX initiative, the ministry official said,
without giving a precise amount.
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