In a press release, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the Hankuk Chemi and his captain were released early in Iranian times on Friday. The health of the captain and crew was healthy, as was the cargo, the ministry said.
The release comes after South Korea pledged to seek the release of Iranian funds frozen in South Korean banks under US sanctions, a South Korean official told Reuters.
According to the state news agency IRNA, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed the ship’s release following an investigation and at the request of the owner and the South Korean government.
Iran, with long coastlines in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, emphasizes full compliance with maritime regulations, including environmental protection, and monitors any violation in this regard, said Saeed Khatibzadeh, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He said Iran’s decision to release the captain had taken into account the fact that he had no record of previous violations in the region.
The issue sparked a diplomatic dispute after Iran demanded that South Korea release $ 7 billion in assets frozen in South Korean banks under US sanctions.
A South Korean State Department official told reporters on Friday that both sides had agreed to the ship and the funds were not related issues and South Korea pledged to help release the money.
“We have expressed our firm willingness to resolve the fund problem,” said the official, who declined to be identified.
The South Korean ministry said in a statement that the ship had left Iran after completing administrative procedures. No mention was made of the requirement to release funds.
“The captain and sailors are in good health,” the ministry said.
South Korea said the ship was not causing any pollution. The ministry official said Iran has dropped a plan to pursue criminal charges against the shipping company.
Iran has denied allegations that the seizure of the tanker and its crew constituted a hostage situation, saying it was South Korea that had held Iranian funds hostage.
The fund freeze is linked to US sanctions that Washington re-imposed on Tehran in 2018 after then-President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran’s world powers.
Under the Biden administration, the United States and Iran have started indirect talks on a return to the accord.
The United States has recently agreed to allow Iran to use the money for non-military purposes, and it has spent some on coronavirus vaccines secured through the global COVAX initiative, the ministry official said, without a precise amount. to give.