Iran appears ready to free the crew of a South Korean tanker ship after it was captured early last month.
Both countries announced on Tuesday that the 20-member crew, which includes South Korean, people of Myanmar, Vietnamese, and Indonesian sailors, would be freed after South Korea agreed to address Iran’s complaints about the release of some $7 billion in assets that were frozen in Seoul because of United States sanctions against the Iranian regime, according to the New York Times.
The MT Hankuk Chemi, which was carrying some 7,200 tons of chemicals, was seized by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in the Persian Gulf on Jan. 4. Tehran said it seized the ship because of “oil pollution” fears, although its seizure was apparently used as leverage to get Seoul to release the funds.
The release could also play into the broader dialogue between Tehran and Washington, which were at odds under former President Donald Trump’s administration. Farhad Alavi, a partner at Akrivis Law Group, a Washington-based sanctions law firm, told the newspaper that the crew’s release could be “a signal to show a willingness to resume discussions or at the least take the tensions down a notch.”
“Similarly, I would not be surprised if President Biden lifts or suspends some less sensitive or perhaps more political Trump-era sanctions in the coming weeks or months — something more symbolic than substantial,” he said.
Iran has been in flagrant violation of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal, and on the same day it seized the tanker, announced plans to enrich uranium to 20%, far above the 3.67% limit set forward in the pact.
The U.S., under Trump, left the JCPOA in 2018 and embarked upon a “maximum pressure” campaign designed to sanction the Iranian regime into nuclear compliance. Tensions further soared in January of last year when U.S. forces conducted a successful drone operation that killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.
Biden and his team have expressed willingness to return to some form of a nuclear deal, although they have said Iran must come into compliance first. Iran said it will come back into compliance if the U.S. ends its sanctions.
Iran said the ship itself and its captain would remain in detention as it conducts an investigation into accusations of maritime pollution. Choi Jong-kun, South Korea’s first vice minister of foreign affairs, also urged Tehran to release both the captain and ship.
The U.S. is calling on Iran to release the ship and its captain immediately, a spokesperson with the State Department told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday.
“We join our ROK allies welcoming the release of 19 of the 20 members of the MT Hankuk Chemi tanker crew and wish them a safe and speedy return home,” the spokesperson said. “Iran continues to threaten navigational rights and freedoms in the Persian Gulf as part of a clear attempt to extort the international community into relieving the pressure of sanctions.”
