Air Freight News

Iran says Seoul to release $1 billion blocked by U.S. sanctions

Iran said South Korea has begun to release some of the $7 billion it has trapped in the Asian country because of U.S. sanctions, progress toward ending a spat linked to the seizure of an oil tanker.

Seoul will free $1 billion in an “initial step” that could eventually resolve the dispute, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei said at a news conference in Tehran on Tuesday. Iran has said it wanted to use the funds to purchase medicines during the coronavirus outbreak.

South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported the unfreezing of the funds would involve consultations with “related countries,” including the U.S., citing the Foreign Ministry in Seoul.

Rabiei said talks are also underway with Japan, Iraq and Oman to release Iranian funds stuck in those countries.

International banks refused to handle Iranian funds for fear of running foul of U.S. sanctions, making it impossible for Tehran to access money that accumulated in overseas deposits from energy exports.

Iranian officials have said that South Korea alone is holding between $7 billion and $10 billion in oil payments, and in January Rabiei linked his country’s seizure of the South Korean-flagged Hankuk Chemi vessel in the Persian Gulf to the frozen assets.

Bloomberg
Bloomberg

{afn_job_title}

© Bloomberg
The author’s opinion are not necessarily the opinions of the American Journal of Transportation (AJOT).

Similar Stories

China scraps tariffs on Australian wine as relations improve

China lifted its punitive tariffs on Australia’s wine exports, signaling an end to a three-year campaign of trade pressure on Canberra and raising hopes for a revival of the billion-dollar…

View Article
US is asking allies to tighten servicing of chip gear in China

The US is asking allies to impose more restrictions on maintaining chipmaking equipment in China as the Biden administration seeks to further thwart Beijing’s ambition to build cutting-edge semiconductors.

View Article
France delays new EU-Canada trade deal vote after Senate setback

The French government will delay holding another vote on the European Union’s free-trade deal with Canada, after an embarrassing setback in the Senate.

View Article
China ‘very close’ to ending Australia wine tariffs, business chief says

The Chinese government is “very close” to lifting the heavy tariffs on Australian wine imports, a business lobby said, while tempering expectations about all producers returning to the market after…

View Article
https://www.ajot.com/images/uploads/article/China_soybean_chart.jpg
Gap in China’s soybean trade casts doubt on data reliability
View Article
https://www.ajot.com/images/uploads/article/White_corn.jpg
El Nino may see first S. Africa white-corn import since 2017
View Article