Iran Urges South Korea to Return Frozen assets

Central Bank of Iran (CBI) submitted a letter of intent for ​Investor-State Dispute Settlement, requesting Seoul to return its frozen assets locked in South Korean banks.

The South Korean government has received the letter of intent last September and has been seeking to resolve the dispute over Iran’s frozen assets under US sanctions.

Iran will likely complain to the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes if the two countries do not find a negotiated solution within the next six months after accepting the letter.

If the two countries fail to find any solution through negotiations within six months after the letter of intent was accepted, Iran may file an Investor-State Dispute suit.

Informed sources told Yonhap News Agency today that officials in Seoul and Tehran are planning a working meeting next month to discuss Iran’s frozen assets in South Korean banks.

Earlier, the deputy foreign ministers of Iran and South Korea met in Austria to discuss Tehran’s blocked money in Seoul banks.

“South Korea and Iran plan to hold working-level talks in Seoul next month to find ways to resolve the years-long dispute over Tehran’s frozen assets,” Yonhap was quoted as saying by an informed source.

At the meeting, which was held at the request of the Korean side and held at the mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Vienna, the Deputy Foreign Minister of South Korea, referring to the importance of Seoul-Tehran relations, explained the blocked Iranian assets with South Korea, saying that his country is trying to repay its debt to Iran.

The frozen asset issue started in 2018 when former US President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 nuclear deal and reinstated economic sanctions against Iran.