Seoul: Crew Still on Board Seized Ship Despite Iran Release Pledge
The crew of a South Korean tanker seized by Iran are still on board the ship, Seoul said Thursday, despite Tehran announcing earlier this week it would release them in a humanitarian move.
The Revolutionary Guard Corps
seized the Hankuk Chemi and arrested its multinational crew of 20 sailors near
the strategic Strait of Hormuz on January 4, saying it had polluted the waters.
The development came as Tehran
urged Seoul to release billions of dollars of Iranian assets frozen in South
Korea due to US sanctions.
On Tuesday, Iran's foreign
ministry said the crew of the seized tanker had been granted permission to
leave the country "in a humanitarian move", although it would retain
the vessel and its captain.
South Korean reports say the
partial release complicates the situation as the ship needs personnel present
to maintain it.
All the crew members remained on
board, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday, adding South Korean officials
had been allowed to meet them Wednesday for the first time since the seizure.
"The foreign ministry is discussing with the
tanker company on the disembarkation and return of the crew and will put all
efforts to secure the release of the captain and the ship as early as
possible," it said in a statement.
A representative at the tanker
company DM Shipping said nothing was certain despite Tehran's announcement the
crew would be released.
"Discussions for their return are still
ongoing," he told AFP. "It hasn't been decided whether they will
return 100 percent."
The arrested crew were from South
Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Myanmar.
Former US president Donald Trump
in 2018 withdrew Washington from a landmark nuclear agreement with world powers
and then reimposed and reinforced crippling sanctions on Iran.
Iran was a key oil supplier to
resource-poor South Korea until Washington's rules blocked the purchases.
According to government spokesman
Ali Rabiei, Iran has $7 billion of funds blocked in Seoul.
Tehran has repeatedly denied any link between the ship's seizure and the funds issue.
