Why did Iran detain ships during high-level exchange discussions? ‘Aim for America’ weight (total)

The detention of Korean national vessels by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards is quite unusual in that a friendly atmosphere between Korea and Iran has been formed recently.

Discussions on the use of frozen Iranian funds in South Korea to purchase vaccines, which had been a conflict between the two countries, were almost finished, and the final case took place just before the first Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs visited Iran.

Usually, the exchange of high-ranking personnel serves as an opportunity to bring the bilateral relations amicably, but the detention of ships is an inconsistent measure, which is why analysis suggests that the measures aimed at the US, the ally of Korea, rather than Korea.

According to diplomatic sources on the 5th, the detention took place in a situation where diplomatic authorities of South Korea and Iran were discussing the direction of Vice Minister Choi’s visit to Tehran earlier next week.

Foreign media such as the Associated Press reported that a high-ranking diplomat from South Korea was scheduled to visit Iran within a few days, citing Iranian officials the day before, to discuss the issue of freezing Iran’s oil exports.

Vice Minister Choi is scheduled to discuss the use of frozen export money with Iran, and some raised an analysis that Iran had detained Korean ships in order to gain an edge in discussions with the Korean side.

However, the Iranian side strongly denies this suspicion.

According to an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Iran’s Ambassador to Korea Said Badamchi Shavestari, who was invited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the day, explained that it was a “completely technical issue,” and that a complaint against the ship in connection with maritime pollution entered the Iranian Maritime Administration and initiated judicial proceedings.

It is true that there is no need for Iran to press Korea over this issue, as the problem of frozen funds is being smoothly coordinated toward the use of vaccine purchases.

However, it is difficult to conclude that the revolutionary garrison, boasting great power in Iran, detained Korean ships simply for technical problems without any intention.

It is not clear whether there were’technical problems’. The Iranian ambassador is known to have failed to disclose to the Korean side about the specific violation of the ship.

The ship’s shipping company said, “It occurred on the high seas and did not cause environmental pollution.”

Therefore, the analysis that Iran aimed at the United States rather than Korea in this detention situation is gaining convincing.

It could be a kind of message sent to the United States in the first anniversary of the commander of the Soleimani Revolutionary Guard, who was killed in a U.S. military attack.

In addition, the United States is set to launch a new administration on the 20th of Joe Biden, and the Iranian hard-liners, led by the Revolutionary Guard, may have tried to reveal their presence in the US government at a turning point.

Iran has expressed blatant dissatisfaction with the United States, which has led sanctions against its country.

The United States, which withdrew from the nuclear agreement (JCPOA, Comprehensive Joint Action Plan) with Iran in May 2018, restored sanctions against Iran, and South Korea took part in this, and it is also believed that the U.S. is responsible for stopping trade between Korea and Iran.

At the same time, it could be interpreted that Iran also showed off its “right to control” the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the Gulf waters, is a strategic point where about one-third of the world’s maritime oil transports pass, and Iran threatened to block the strait whenever military tensions with the United States increased, and several times captured ships.

The fact that the US State Department responded by requesting the removal of the detention immediately after Iran detained a Korean flag ship can be read as a supporting point.

The government is carefully analyzing Iranian intentions and is cautious.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said, “We are leaving all possibilities open and considering future countermeasures.”

Meanwhile, some inside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the detention of Korean ships would cancel Choi’s visit to Iran, but it is known that they decided to proceed as planned.

Even though Vice Minister Choi visited Iran, if there was no progress in the detention situation, the burden could be increased. It seems that he decided that visiting and concluding on the issue of the frozen funds would help resolve the detention situation.

Vice Minister Choi is scheduled to visit Iran from the 10th.

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