Iran denies holding South Korean tanker, crew as hostages

SEOUL • Iran denied yesterday it was using a South Korean ship and its crew as hostages, a day after it seized the tanker in the Gulf while pressing a demand for Seoul to release US$7 billion (S$9.22 billion) in funds frozen under US sanctions.

The seizure of the MT Hankuk Chemi and its 20-member crew near the strategic Strait of Hormuz has been seen as an attempt by Teheran to assert its demands, just two weeks before US President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

Iran wants Mr Biden to lift sanctions imposed by outgoing President Donald Trump. Teheran's critics have long accused it of capturing ships and foreign prisoners as a way of gaining leverage in negotiations.

"We've become used to such allegations," Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said. "But if there is any hostage-taking, it is Korea's government that is holding US$7 billion, which belongs to us, hostage on baseless grounds."

South Korea summoned the Iranian ambassador, called for the ship to be released and said it was dispatching a delegation to Iran to discuss it. Iran says the ship was held over environmental violations.

South Korea, like other countries, is required to limit Iran's access to its financial system under the United States sanctions, which were imposed by Mr Trump after he abandoned a nuclear agreement reached with Iran under his predecessor Barack Obama.

Iran says the sanctions are illegal and have hurt its economy, including its ability to respond to the worst outbreak of Covid-19 in the Middle East.

South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said yesterday she was making diplomatic efforts to secure the release of the tanker and had made contact with her counterpart in Teheran.

Iran's ambassador in Seoul, Mr Saeed Badamchi Shabestari, told reporters that "all of (the crew) are safe". In addition to a South Korean delegation expected to go to Iran as soon as possible to try to free the ship, South Korea's Vice-Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun is scheduled to visit Iran on Sunday.

Iranian state TV cited a Teheran government official as saying the visit had been scheduled earlier, to discuss the frozen funds.

The ship's Busan-based operator Taikun Shipping said there was no indication before the vessel was seized that the Iranian authorities were probing possible violations of environmental rules.

"If it really was marine pollution, as they say, the coastguard was supposed to approach the ship first," said Taikun's management director Lee Chun-hee, who added that armed soldiers approached the crew instead.

Last Sunday, the Tehran Times newspaper reported that Iran was hoping to negotiate an agreement to use the frozen funds to "barter" for Covid-19 vaccine doses and other commodities.

REUTERS