Iran’s realistic diplomatic route that wants to return to the nuclear agreement
As a result of Korea’s diplomatic efforts to resolve the problem after the incident
On January 4 (local time), the Iranian Revolutionary Guard unveiled a video of the process of capturing the Korean national ship’Korea Chemi’ (17,426 tons) in the Hormuz Strait, a major crude oil transport route in Middle Eastern oil producing countries. The video, which is believed to have been shot from a helicopter, includes a scene of a small high-speed boat belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard approaching the Korean chemistry. FARS news video capture
The background is drawing attention when Iran released the crew of a Korean ship, which had been detained for environmental pollution in the Persian Gulf on the 4th of last month, in a month. Considering Iran’s tough diplomatic temperament, which has grown up against the dominant US as well as Israel and rival Saudi Arabia, it can be evaluated that the release was made much earlier than expected. First of all, the release appears to have been made full-scale by Iran’s preemptive decision. Such “tension” can be confirmed in the press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was released at 10:00 pm on the 2nd. In this document, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “First Vice Minister Jong-Geon Choi, who oversees negotiations with Iran, said Seyed Abbas Arakchi Iran for the prompt release of detention of Korean ships and crew members who have been on board for about 30 minutes from 6:50 pm “I made a phone call with the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs”, and said, “I have informed me that I have decided to lift the detention of the rest of the crew except for the captain first.” The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not release a press release immediately after the call was made, and delayed the point for several hours. This is because Iran was not 100% sure that it would actually make a decision for release. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a press release at 10 p.m. after the news was made public on the night of the 2nd, and Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Said Hativjade officially announced the release through the website. It was like tapping the stone leg all the way. So why did Iran make this decision?
Sayed Abbas Arakchi, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran and Choi Jong-Geon, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Korea
First, this is what the open source is talking about. Spokesman Hativjade said in an announcement on the 2nd that the Iranian government made the decision, “according to the request of the South Korean government and the provisions of the Iranian judiciary,” “allowing sailors to leave Iran on a humanitarian level,” causing marine pollution. I did.” At the same time, Vice Minister Arakchi stressed the need to freeze the freeze of $7 billion in Iranian assets (evil 7.6 trillion won) that Korea is holding to Vice Minister Choi. Both sides discussed a useful mechanism to unlock this financial asset. The Korean side also said that it will do its best to release the frozen funds as soon as possible.” The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said in a press release, “Vice Minister Choi said that the ROK government will push forward with a sense of speed in matters that the Korean government can independently resolve in relation to the Iranian frozen funds, while transparently conducting negotiations with the US on issues that require consultation with the US. I explained to it.” Collecting data from the two countries, it can be seen that Iran has taken preemptive measures to release its sailors in consideration of relations with Korea, a traditional friend of East Asia, in a situation where Iran has not been able to obtain a’complete solution’ regarding the frozen funding problem. The rapid response that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs showed after the incident was somewhat successful in dissolving the heart of Iran, which was frozen cold.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman announces the release of detained Korean ship crew members. Of the 20 detainees, 5 were Korean nationals, and the rest were Myanmar, Vietnamese, and Indonesian nationals. The captain’s detention continues. Iranian Foreign Ministry website capture
The second is what the public data doesn’t say. It was because of the’subtle timing’ that the Iranian detainment of Korean ships attracted great attention around the world. Iran caused this incident at the time of the inauguration of the new President Joe Biden, who has pledged to return to the “Iran Nuclear Agreement” that the US administration put out like a devotional partner of Donald Trump. The 3rd, the day before the seizure took place, marked the 1st anniversary of the assassination of the commander of the Kuds Army of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gasem Soleimani, revered as’the hero of Iran’ through a drone attack. It broke the restrictions of the agreement and resumed production of uranium with an enrichment level of 20% (the enrichment level of highly enriched uranium for weapons is 90% or more). In establishing relations with the United States in the future, hard-liners in Iran, such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), were receiving strength. The capture of Korean ships was also carried out by this revolutionary garrison. However, Iran has been cautious since. Rather than showing additional provocations against the United States and neighboring countries, it is showing a realistic look to revive the Iranian nuclear agreement. In this regard, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zaryf, in an interview with the United States on the 1st (local time), ordered that the United States should hurry as Iran is ready to re-establish relations with the United States. However, the European Union, which has been criticizing the Trump administration’s breach of Iran’s nuclear agreement, expressed the view that they could control the return of the US and Iran to the nuclear agreement. After fierce debate inside Iran over diplomatic lines over what kind of relations should be established with the Biden administration, the’moderates’ have won. But, as Minister Zarif said “the United States doesn’t have much time,” if the United States doesn’t respond in a hurry, Iran can also turn to a hard line. If we observe the breathtaking trend of this international situation, it is highly likely that it was in the context of improving relations with the United States due to the release of sailors on board Korean ships. From the beginning of this incident, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which can be classified as a’moderate’, has always maintained a policy of’technical views related to marine pollution’ that this detention has nothing to do with frozen funds. In the end, Iran’s sensibility to choose a rational foreign policy of returning to the nuclear agreement and the sincerity of the Korean government since the incident led to a great result of the release of the sailors. By Gil Yoon-hyung, staff reporter [email protected]