Tensions Mount as Iran, South Korea Negotiate Release of Seized Tanker

A week after it seized a South Korean tanker passing through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran on Sunday called on South Korea to avoid “politicizing the issue” and sounding “fruitless propaganda,” and to instead “allow legal procedures to proceed.” Tehran’s deputy foreign minister offered the advice to his counterpart from Seoul, who arrived in the Islamic Republic on Sunday to try to negotiate the vessel’s release. Iran is demanding South Korea fork over the $7 billion it owes Tehran for oil import, which currently is frozen because of United States’ sanctions. Yet Iran also insists the Korean ship was detained last week because of “environmental pollution,” and rejects the accusations it is holding the 20 crew members hostage. In recent months, the US has cranked up its sanctions on Iran, targeting its oil, infrastructure and banking sectors and punishing any company or individual doing business with Tehran. In 2018, President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal reached by Iran and the United Nations Security Council’s permanent members and Germany, placing sweeping sanctions back in place. Iran has since scaled back its commitments to the deal, enriching uranium at a growing pace.