Why did Iran detain Korean ships before the visit of the Korean Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs?

On the 4th, it was revealed that the detention of Korean vessels by Iranian authorities took place before a high-ranking diplomatic official visited Iran.
The Saudi Arabian press, Al-Arabia English version, reported the news of the detention on the day and reported that “this incident took place while the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Korea was scheduled to visit Tehran.” “The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “The visit will be made within a few days, and Iran’s request to return the 7 billion dollars of crude oil exports tied to South Korean accounts due to US sanctions will be discussed.”
Al-Arabia expressed it as a’deputy minister’, but it is said that it was the first vice-minister Choi Jong-gun that actually promoted the visit to Iran. The first Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs oversees the bilateral relations, which said that Choi was preparing to visit Iran to discuss issues of bilateral relations between South Korea and Iran. As early as a few days, Vice Minister Choi’s plans to visit Iran were expected to be officially announced.

In this regard, an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “It is true that we were in consultation with the Iranian authorities, but the date has not been confirmed yet. Since there has been no exchange of high-ranking personnel for a while, we were going to discuss the overall bilateral relationship.”
However, even if the specific schedule was not confirmed, diplomats responded that it was not common sense that the Iranian government detained Korean ships and arrested Korean sailors ahead of a visit by a senior Korean official. In particular, Iran alleges that the ship was detained under the direction of Prosecutors in Hormuz. It is also possible to interpret that it was a planned action according to’due process’. However, Iranian media reported that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards discovered the site of marine pollution on the ship, but took action because it ignored the warning and continued to operate.
However, speculation continues that the Iranian authorities had other intentions to even detain Korean ships ahead of high-level exchanges with South Korea. Iran also warned that it could sue Korea to the International Court of Justice if it fails to repay the money for the export of crude oil frozen in its bank account. As the US Trump administration broke the Iran nuclear agreement and restored sanctions against Iran, most transactions with Iranian financial institutions were banned, and the account in which South Korea imported Iranian crude oil and deposited funds was frozen.

It is also worth noting that this incident took place amid rising tensions between Iran and the United States. The Associated Press reported that the vessel detention measures and Iran’s resumption of uranium enrichment took place on the same day. Iran announced that it had begun enriching uranium with 20% purity at its underground nuclear facility in Pordo, a declaration that it will return to the transfer of the nuclear agreement, which promised to virtually cease weaponsable nuclear activities.
However, the government is wary of excessive interpretation. It is said that it cannot be prematurely concluded that there is a political intention to oppress Korea. An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Iranian Embassy are in the process of understanding the details of the detention of our vessels, and are requesting the Iranian authorities to check the safety of crew members and to lift the vessel early.
Reporters Yoo Ji-hye and Hyun-ju Park [email protected]