In a press release on Friday, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said the Hankuk Chemi and its captain were released early Friday Iran time. The health of the captain and crew was sound, as was the cargo, the ministry said.
Its release comes 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 told Reuters.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry confirmed the release of the ship after the investigation and at the request of the owner and the South Korean government, according to the state news agency IRNA.
“Iran, with long coastlines in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, emphasizes full compliance with maritime regulations, including environmental protection, and monitors every violation in this regard,” said Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry. cases, quoted.
He said the Iranian decision to release the captain had taken into account that he had no record of transgressions in the region in the past.
The issue sparked a diplomatic dispute after Iran demanded that South Korea release $ 7 billion in funds frozen under US sanctions on South Korean banks.
A South Korean Foreign Ministry official told reporters on Friday that both parties had agreed on the ship and that the funds were unrelated, and that South Korea had promised to release the money.
“We have expressed our firm willingness to solve the fund problem,” said the official, who did not want to be identified.
The South Korean ministry said in a statement that the ship left Iran after the administrative procedures were completed. No mention was made of the claim for the release of funds.
“The captain and sailors are in good health,” the ministry said.
South Korea said the vessel did not cause any pollution. The ministry said Iran had abandoned a plan to prosecute criminal charges against the shipping company.
Iran has denied allegations that the seizure of the tanker and its crew is being held hostage, saying that it is South Korea that is holding Iranian funds hostage.
The freezing of funds has been linked to US sanctions that Washington reinstated in Tehran in 2018 after then-President Donald Trump withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
Under Biden’s government, the United States and Iran have begun indirect talks on a return to the agreement.
The United States recently agreed to allow Iran to use the funds for non-military purposes, and it spent on coronavirus vaccines secured through the global COVAX initiative, ministry officials said without to give an exact amount.