South Korea will send a delegation to negotiate the release of a 20-member ship and its crew after Iranian forces seized the vessel, officials said Tuesday, the latest development in a provocation by the government in Tehran, which has been economically isolated by US sanctions.
According to Iranian state news agencies, Iranian officials said the ship was arrested in the Persian Gulf by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps for violating environmental protocols and polluting the sea. According to the South Korean company that owns it, it transported 7,200 tons of chemicals, mostly methanol, which it denies polluting the waters.
The tension comes as Tehran tries to pressure the government in Seoul to release about $ 7 billion in revenue from oil sales frozen in South Korean banks since the Trump administration tightened sanctions against Iran.
But they are also following the recent increase in tensions between the United States and Iran as President Trump’s term comes to an end. Iran said on Monday that nuclear enrichment levels at a major plant were starting to rise to 20 percent, a step closer to developing the capability to manufacture a nuclear weapon. The Pentagon said on Sunday that it had ordered the aircraft carrier Nimitz to stay in the Middle East, days after ordering the ship to return home, due to Iranian threats against Mr. Trump and other U.S. officials.
Iran on Tuesday denied allegations that it used the South Korean ship as leverage, but reiterated its complaint about the locked-in funds. “If anyone is a hostage, it’s the South Korean government that has taken more than $ 7 billion of our revenue hostage for no reason,” government spokesman Ali Rabiei told a news conference. said.
But news outlets linked to the Revolutionary Guards made headlines on Tuesday linking the seizure of the ship to negotiations with South Korea over the release of the frozen funds. “We caught the thieves,” a Vatan Emrooz newspaper headline said. “A clean response to income thieves,” the Tasnim News Agency said.
The ship, the tanker Hankuk Chemi, sailed from Jubail, Saudi Arabia, to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates when armed revolutionary guards approached it, according to Ri Il-su, an official of DM Shipping Co., the company that owns it . .
After being on board, they forced the ship to change course and sail to Iran. “The Iranian troops said they would come on board for an investigation, but did not answer questions about what the investigation was about,” he said. Ri said. He added that the captain of the ship called the company during the seizure.
The communication between the ship and the company was cut off and the company received a warning notice from the ship which according to the company’s officials was activated by the captain as a warning to the ship’s headquarters. Mr. Ri calls the allegations by Iran that the vessel pollutes waters “absurd.”
The vessel is being held in the port of Bandar Abbas and the case is expected to be referred to the judiciary, Iranian news media reported, citing naval authorities.
According to Choi Young-sam, a spokesman for the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there were five people from South Korea on board, along with 11 from Myanmar, two from Indonesia and two from Vietnam.
“Our goal is to release the ship and its crew in good time,” Choi said. “The Iranian diplomatic authorities have also made it clear to us that they will work with us for an early resolution of this issue.”
The issue will be addressed next week during a planned visit to Tehran by a South Korean foreign minister, Choi Jong-kun, who is expected to focus on the frozen Iranian assets in South Korea.
The future of relations between Iran and the United States has apparently reached a turning point while President-elect Joseph R. Biden jr. Prepare to adopt this month. A security adviser from Mr. Biden said on Sunday that if Iran re-enters compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal that President Trump left in 2018, the new government will pursue further negotiations on Iran’s missile capability. The U.S. Treasury Department announced additional sanctions on Tuesday, targeting Iran’s steel sector.
But on Tuesday, according to Press TV, Iran accused the United States of inciting new tensions in the region. ‘“We made it clear to them that we would not start a war directly or indirectly,” he said. Rabiei said. “But if the United States makes a blatant mistake, we will defend our security and vital interests with full force.”
Farnaz Fassihi contribution made.