Iran’s side “helps to release if frozen funds are released” … Song Young-gil “Reconfirmation of separate admission”

Iran’s state national security committee said on the 29th (local time) that Iran’s state news agency IRNA said on the 29th (locally, if you return frozen Iranian assets, it will help lift the detention of Korean ships (captured in the Strait of Hormuz on the 4th of this month). Time) reported. The main content of the article is that the conversation took place on the 27th in a videoconference with the President of Foreign Affairs and Transportation of the National Assembly, Song Young-gil.

However, in a call with JoongAng Ilbo on the 30th, Chairman Song refuted: “In the video conversations, both sides reaffirmed their position that the frozen funds and the detention of ships are separate.” It is argued that there is a difference between actual statements from the Iranian side at the meeting and post-mortem reports from state media.

Videoconference between the president of the National Assembly, Song Young-gil, and the president of the National Security Council, Moztapa Zolnuri, and the Iranian parliament [송영길 위원장 제공]

According to a Reuters report, Iran’s state IRNA news agency Moztapa Zolnuri said in a meeting with President Song on 27: “The reason the Korean ships were detained is exclusively due to environmental pollution, but if quickly returns frozen assets tied in Korea, the issue of detention and will affect the judgment of the judiciary in relation to it. ”Iran’s claim that the issue of frozen assets and ship detention could be linked was directly revealed by state media.

Currently, about $ 7 billion (about 7.8 trillion won) of Iran’s crude oil exports are frozen in domestic banks due to US sanctions against Iran. The Foreign Ministry sent a negotiating team to Iran on 10 this month to discuss lifting the detention of ships and raising funds for freezing.

Videoconference between the president of the National Assembly, Song Young-gil, and the president of the National Security Council, Moztapa Zolnuri, and the Iranian parliament [송영길 위원장 제공]

Regarding this, President Song said: “In the actual talks, Iran’s comments were somewhat different. He stressed that “the meaning of the lines (in the statements of President Jol-nuri), that is, in terms of nuances, can be interpreted as a link between the two themes, but has never been explicitly stated.”

President Song said in a call on the day, “(to President Joolnuri) he emphasized the existing position of the South Korean government that the issue of detention and frozen funds should never be linked. I have adhered to it,” he said. Iran said they agreed that the two issues were separate and expressed its position to try to resolve them.

Previously, Iran has consistently repeated the position that the issue of withholding and freezing of funds is separate from the last 4 days (local time) when the Korean ships were captured. At the same time, comments from local government officials who are questioning the frozen funds in Korea constantly flowed through the local media. For this reason, it is noted that the IRNA report was actually revealed through conversations with Korean officials.

Reporter Park Hyun-joo [email protected]