S. Korea Has No Right to Block Iran’s Money: Spokesman
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson denounced South Korea’s “blind” obedience to the US, saying Seoul has no right to freeze Iranian assets.
Asked by reporters at a press conference on Monday about Iran’s legal action to free billions of dollars of its oil money frozen in South Korea's banks due to the US sanctions, Seyed Abbas Mousavi said, “Our action is not anything new, as we have been pursuing the money South Korea owes us for a long time.
“South Korea has subjected more than half a century of relations with us to interference from others. South Korea’s blind obedience to the US and its move to use the unilateral US pressures as an excuse (for blocking Iran’s assets) are not acceptable to us.”
It is not surprising that a number of countries are under the US pressure, the Iranian spokesman said, adding, “But they have no right to block the Iranian nation’s assets for some time.”
He went on to say that the Foreign Ministry “has taken the necessary and legal measures (to unblock the money).”
On June 12, Hossein Tanhaee, the chairman of Iran and South Korea's joint chamber of commerce told Borna news agency that Iran's frozen assets in South Korea were between $6.5 billion and $9 billion.
Tanhaee added that not only Korean banks refuse to release Iran's money, some of them have also demanded commission and maintenance fees for Iran's accounts.