NOURNEWS - Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Tuesday that the crew of the seized Korean oil tanker have received permission to leave Iran in a humanitarian move.
“Following the South Korean government’s request and the assistance of the judiciary within the framework of judicial regulations, the crew of the Korean ship, which was seized on charges of causing environmental pollution in the Persian Gulf, have received permission to leave the country in a humanitarian move by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Khatibzadeh said.
“The judicial investigation of the ship and captain's trespass case continues through legal channels,” he added.
Meantime, Khatibzadeh also said that Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi has in phone talks with his South Korean counterpart discussed release of Iran’s foreign currency assets blocked in the East Asian country.
According to him, the Korean side underlined the country’s determination to remove obstacles to release the Iranian assets.
Last month, Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Abdolnasser Hemmati called on South Korea to make a serious move and opt for independent decision-making on Iran’s frozen assets, warning that if the country does not release Iran’s crude revenues, it should expect consequences.
“Seoul must immediately release some $7 billion worth of funds it owes to Iran over crude imports in the past,” Hemmati said after meeting South Korea’s Deputy Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun in Tehran, adding, “I reminded the Koreans and emphasized that Iran’s blocked funds belong to the Iranian nation and no one is allowed to play tricks on them.”
He said Seoul has been acting reluctantly by repeatedly promising that the money would be released.
“For almost one and a half year, the Koreans have sent numerous correspondences and announced that they would solve the problem today, tomorrow or a month later,” the CBI governor said, adding that Choi had shown serious determination to tackle the case for good.
Early in January, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced that it had stopped a South Korean-flagged ship for environmental pollution in the Persian Gulf, adding that the ship has been taken to a port in Southern Iran.
“The South Korean tanker was stopped in the waters of the Persian Gulf environmental pollution and after neglecting warnings,” the IRGC Navy said, noting that the tanker has been taken to Iran's port of Bandar Abbas for further action.
"The tanker, HANKUK CHEMI, carrying 7,200 tons of oil chemicals had been violating environmental protocols repeatedly since it set off from the Saudi Al-Jobail port," it added, and said the case with the tanker will be referred to the Iranian judiciary.
NOURNEWS