Iran’s side “helps release if freeze funds are released”… Song Young-gil “Reconfirmation of separate admission”

Iran’s National Security Commissioner said on the 29th (local time) that Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said on the 29th (locally, if you return frozen Iranian assets, it will help lift the detention of Korean ships (captured in the Strait of Hormuz on the 4th of this month). Time) reported. The main content of the article is that we had such a conversation on the 27th at a video conference with the National Assembly Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Transportation Day.

However, in a call with JoongAng Ilbo on the 30th, Chairman Song refuted, “In the video talks, both sides reaffirmed their position that frozen funds and vessel detention are separate.” It is argued that there is a difference between the Iranian side’s actual remarks at the meeting and the post-mortem reports of the state media.

According to a report by Reuters, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency Moztapa Zolnuri said in a meeting with Chairman Song on the 27th, “The reason that Korean ships were detained is purely due to environmental pollution, but if you quickly return the frozen assets tied in Korea, the issue of detention and It will affect the judgment of the judiciary in relation to it,” he reported. Iran’s claim that the issue of frozen assets and ship detention could be linked was directly disclosed by state media.

Currently, about US$7 billion (about 7.8 trillion won) of crude oil exports from Iran is frozen in domestic banks due to US sanctions against Iran. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has dispatched a bargaining team to Iran on the 10th of this month to discuss lifting the detention of ships and the lifting of the frozen funds.

Regarding this, Chairman Song said, “In the actual talks, Iran’s remarks were somewhat different from this,” and “There was no mention that resolving the freeze fund issue affects the release of ships.” He emphasized that “(in the remarks of Chairman Jol-Nuri), the meaning of the lines, that is, in terms of nuances, can be interpreted as linking the two issues, but it has never been explicitly said.

Chairman Song said in a call on the day, “(to Chairman Joolnuri), he emphasized the existing position of the South Korean government that the detention issue and the frozen funds should never be linked.” “Concerns that the relationship between the two countries will be more difficult to recover if the detention situation continues I have delivered” he said. Iran said that they agreed that the two issues were separate and expressed a position to try to resolve the issues.

Earlier, Iran has steadily repeated the position that the issue of detaining and freezing funds is separate since the last 4 days (local time) when Korean ships were captured. At the same time, remarks from local government officials who are questioning the frozen funds in Korea steadily flowed through the local media. For this reason, it is pointed out that the report of the IRNA was actually revealed through the form of talks with Korean officials.

Reporter Park Hyun-joo [email protected]