Iran is negotiating with other countries and will file a lawsuit if necessary, Zarif said in a recent interview referring to the measures taken by the Foreign Ministry to unblock Tehran’s assets in other countries, Mehr News Agency reported on Monday.

He added there are other ways to return the frozen money such as bartering or purchasing goods from other countries.

Zarif further noted that the Iranian Foreign Ministry has successfully unblocked some of the frozen assets from a number of countries so far.

According to Iran’s Foreign Ministry, before the Trump administration last year reimposed penalties on Iran’s crude sales, South Korea is about seven billion dollars in arrears for oil imports from Iran.

Ira has previously warned South Korea that Tehran will file a complaint concerning its frozen assets against South Korean banks in the international courts of justice.

Reacting to an article that appeared on one of the Iranian newspapers, the ministry referred to some key points in a statement to enlighten the public opinion, Mehr News Agency (MNA) reported.

“No telephone calls have been made by the spokesperson of the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Seoul and the claim is basically false,” said the five-point statement.

It added that the Iranian envoy to South Korea had met with the general manager of the Middle East Affairs at the South Korean foreign ministry and the previous remarks made by the head of the Central Bank of Iran was not mentioned in the meeting at all.

Following the meeting of the Iranian ambassador with the senior official at the South Korea’s foreign ministry, the Foreign Ministry of Iran issued a statement on July 21 rejecting “unfounded reports” by the official News Agency of South Korea, Yonhap, in which the news agency had claimed the Iranian ambassador was “summoned” to the South Korean foreign ministry.

Unfortunately, the South Korea’s Yonhap news agency in an “unprofessional move has released a piece of unfounded news. The Iranian ambassador “has not been summoned” by the Foreign Ministry of the host country “but has been invited,” the statement stressed.

It concluded by saying that over the past two years, accessing to the financial resources of the Central Bank of Iran in South Korea has been the main topic discussed by the officials of the two countries. In addition to receiving the country’s special envoy, many meetings have been held with the Korean officials both in Tehran and Seoul. Obviously, the nature of the duties of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requires that it should not disclose all its measures. According to its inherent duties, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs mainly facilitates foreign relations including economic relations with other countries.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Abbas Mousavi had earlier said in an interview that Tehran could sue Seoul as they refrain from paying off their oil debts to Tehran.

Earlier last week, Mousavi said Tehran has already given an official warning to Seoul over the frozen assets.

Iranian authorities have been pressing South Korea to release between $6.5 billion and $9 billion in frozen funds so that Tehran could use them for purchase of basic goods.

South Korea is citing the US sanctions as an excuse for not releasing Iran’s money.

Parliament Vice-Speaker Amir-Hossein Qazizadeh Hashemi said it is a source of “regret and surprise” that the government of South Korea has blocked Iran’s oil money under the US pressure.

“The freezing of Iran’s assets by South Korea shows that this country does not adhere to any ethical and legal principles and violates the rights of a nation due to the pressure of a bullying government,” Hashemi said, referring to the United States.

Iranian authorities have been pressing South Korea to release between $6.5 billion and $9 billion in frozen funds so that Tehran could use them for the purchase of basic goods.

Hashemi slammed Seoul’s “rude” behavior and urged the Iranian Foreign Ministry to actively pursue the return of the oil money.

“We must do our utmost to free our assets, especially in South Korea, and spare no effort in doing so,” he said.

On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi said Tehran has already given an official warning to Seoul over the frozen assets.

South Korea cites the US sanctions as an excuse for not releasing Iran’s money, Mousavi told a press briefing.

However, he added, relations between South Korea and the US have nothing to do with Iran.

On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told a meeting with Iranian parliamentarians that countries like South Korea have not responded positively to Iran’s repeated requests for release of funds that have reportedly been blocked because of the US pressure.

“Some countries like Oman and China have acted positively on the return of these funds but South Korea has not taken any significant action in this regard,” said Zarif, according to remarks published by Iranian Parliament’s news service.

Zarif said the South Korean government claims it has “certain problems” in transferring the money it owes to Iran mainly because of the US sanctions.

“On the one hand, we are negotiating for the return of the blocked funds and on the other, there have been some proper legal actions,” said the top Iranian diplomat without elaborating on what legal path Iran has taken to secure the release of funds.

Business sources said last week that Seoul had agreed to allow Iran to use part of the funds for purchases of drugs and medical equipment.

Iran is struggling to return the funds frozen by foreign banks amid a shortage of hard currency in the country which has been contending with the coronavirus pandemic over the past months.

Press TV contributed to this story.