Seoul (TIP): South Korea is dispatching a delegation to Iran as early as on Tuesday to seek the release of a tanker seized in the Gulf waters by Iranian forces, with a senior diplomat set to go ahead with a planned visit Tehran on Sunday amid tensions over $7 billion in Iranian funds frozen in Korean banks due to US sanctions. A screenshot taken on January 4, 2021, from Refinitiv Eikon shows the location of a South Korean-flagged tanker seized by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps in Gulf. REFINITIV EIKON via REUTERS
The news of the visits came as Seoul’s Foreign Ministry called in the Iranian ambassador to South Korea for a meeting and urged the early release of the South Korean-flagged tanker and its crew of 20.
It was carrying a cargo of more than 7,000 tonnes of ethanol when it was seized on Monday over what Iranian media said were pollution violations.
The incident comes as Iran shows increasing signs of willingness to assert its claims in the region as US President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office later this month, succeeding Donald Trump. Reuters