[ad_1]
The vessel, which was taken to Bandar Abbas after being seized, was carrying 7,200 tonnes of ethanol, according to the IRGC Navy.
Tehran, Iran – The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy seized a South Korean ship for “environmental pollution” in the Persian Gulf.
The vessel, which was taken to Bandar Abbas after being seized, was carrying 7,200 tonnes of ethanol, according to the IRGC Navy.
“The South Korean tanker with the trade name Hankuk Chemi was arrested by the Navy Guards this morning due to the violation of environmental protocols,” the IRGC Navy said in a statement on Monday, adding that the tanker had started his trip to South Korea from Port of Al Jubail in Saudi Arabia.
The press release added that the action had been carried out by order of a provincial judge.
Later Monday, the South Korean Foreign Ministry demanded the immediate release of the ship, adding in a statement that its forces stationed in the Strait of Hormuz had been dispatched to the area.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said earlier that a senior South Korean foreign ministry official would visit Tehran later this week to discuss Seoul’s prolonged freeze. billions of dollars of Iranian money due to US sanctions. .
“We hope this trip will put an end to the slowness of this process,” Khatibzadeh said on Monday.
In December, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran said Tehran had $ 7 billion locked up in South Korea.
“They won’t allow us to transfer money or pay interest on it but, instead, charge us to keep it,” Hemmati said.
Iran has been trying for months to use that money to buy COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX, a global vaccination effort under the auspices of the World Health Organization.
The United States imposed tough economic sanctions on Iran after President Donald Trump in May 2018 unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal with world powers.
[ad_2]
