Iran suggests debt prompted South Korea tanker seizure
While Iran initially said the seizure was over environmental violations, speculation is gaining momentum that the measure was intended to force Seoul into transferring withheld funds to Tehran.
“We caught the thief,” read a headline in the hard-line Iranian newspaper Vatan Emrooz one day after armed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) soldiers boarded a South Korean tanker in the Persian Gulf. The unit arrested the crew and took control of the vessel.
The editorial fueled speculation that Iran’s move was a tactical decision to force the South Korean government into unblocking $7 billion in Iranian oil sales held due to US sanctions and banking restrictions imposed on business with Tehran.
The Islamic Republic’s marathon talks with South Korean officials to unfreeze the fund have yielded no results. Last week, Iran's Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati expressed frustration with the delays, saying South Koran banks are not only refusing to release the money but even charging Iran for holding it.
In the early hours following the tanker seizure, Iran justified the move by accusing the vessel of failing to comply with international “environmental protocols.” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh noted that such seizures are routine in international navigation.
