The order was issued after Ayatollha Khamenei issued a notice to Raeisi warning that a potential return foreign brands of home appliances, including two of two South Korean companies, to the Iranian market would be a huge blow to local manufacturers and their expansion projects.

The Leader intervened in the case after local brands of home appliances wrote to him to ask for help, according to a letter by his office addressed to the Iranian Presidency.

Local manufacturers of home appliances have reported continued increase in their output as they have been struggling to fill a gap created by the departure of foreign companies from Iran after the US sanctions were imposed.

South Korea’s Samsung and LG were among the first such firms that decided to leave the Iranian market three years ago to comply with US sanctions.

The ban imposed on Thursday would not cover parts used to manufacture home appliances inside Iran.

Meanwhile on Thursday, Iran’s foreign minister urged that South Korea provide the Islamic Republic with “quick access” to the funds that it has been withholding from the country under the banner of abiding by US sanctions.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks to his Korean counterpart Chung Eui-yong during a telephone conversation on Thursday.

Amir-Abdollahian expressed “strong criticism” of the continued freezing of the Iranian funds at South Korea’s banks.

Iranian authorities have said on several occasions that they expect South Korea to do more on the release of nearly $8.5 billion blocked illegally at two South Korean banks under the pretext of the United States’ sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The top Iranian diplomat urged that the money be released so the Islamic Republic could use it towards buying medicine and other commodities.

It had been previously agreed for the funds to be used by Iran towards the purchase of humanitarian items, something that has again been prevented as a result of Korea’s commitment to honor the sanctions.

Tehran has been returning Seoul’s refusal towards cooperation by exercising restrictions on imports from South Korea.

“The Iranian people are seriously displeased with the situation” that has been brought about as a result of cessation of trade activities between the countries—on the back of the American economic measures—and prevention of application of the funds even towards purchase of humanitarian items, Amir-Abdollahian told the Korean official.

Chung, for his part, said that he was pursuing the issue of Iran’s access to the frozen funds.

He, meanwhile, expressed concern regarding the actions that the Islamic Republic has been taking concerning the Korean imports.

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At this meeting, necessary agreements were made regarding the transfer of financial resources to the desired destinations. In addition, the decisions of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) regarding the volume of transferred financial resources and the destination banks were announced to the South Korean banks.

For his part, the South Korean ambassador to Iran announced that his country is ready to take all necessary measures to use all of Iran’s banking resources in South Korea and there are no ceilings or restrictions in this regard.

Welcoming the change of approach of South Korea, Governor of Central Bank Abdolnaser Hemmati stated that although the Islamic Republic welcomes the change in the approach of countries and increased cooperation, the legal pursuits of this bank to claim damages due to non-cooperation of Korean banks in the recent years will remain in place, so that Korean side should make its utmost effort to eliminate the negative record occurred between the two countries in this regard.

Referring to a previous visit to Seoul, Hemmati said: “A year and a half ago, I had talks with South Korean officials, including the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, about this issue, and they promised assistance and cooperation, which unfortunately were not realized.”

After the Korean official’s visit to Iran, the two sides finally agreed that South Korea should provide the necessary monetary channels for Iran to be able to use its assets in this country for purchasing essentials goods through third countries.

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 South Korean companies imported $101.2 million worth of Iranian crude last month, the first such move in five months, data showed Tuesday.

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The U.S. launched new sanctions on Iran’s petroleum sector on November 4, but it has granted exemptions to eight countries allowing them to temporarily continue buying Iranian oil.

Among those eight countries was South Korea, one of the major customers of Iranian oil, that won a six-month waiver allowing it to purchase a limited amount of crude from Iran, but the country has not imported any oil from Iran since September.

“As South Korea received a waiver and has been in talks with Iran about the first import volume, it seems (Iran oil) could be brought in late in January or early February at the earliest,” SK Innovation Chief Executive Officer and President Kim Jun told Reuters on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

South Korean and Japanese buyers were expected to restart Iranian oil imports early this year, industry sources said in November. South Korea can buy up to 200,000 barrels per day of Iran oil, mostly condensate, an ultra-light form of crude oil under the waiver, the sources said.

South Korea was the third-biggest buyer of Iranian oil and the largest importer of Iranian condensate before the U.S. sanctions were reimposed in November.

Also as reported by Reuters on Tuesday, Turkey has resumed imports of Iranian crude oil under the U.S. sanctions waiver, according to the trading and shipping sources.

The country restarted oil imports from Iran after a one-month stop in November when U.S. sanctions on Iran were reimposed.

Reuters also reported on Monday that Indian State-run Bharat Petroleum Corp will import 1 million barrels of Iranian oil in February after a gap of three months, with the nation’s overall purchases from Tehran remaining at 9 million barrels, three industry sources said.

The United States in early November granted India a six-month waiver from sanctions on Iran’s oil exports.

The post ‘S. Korea expected to restart Iran’s oil imports in late Jan. or early Feb.’ appeared first on Iran News Daily.

An Iranian parliamentary delegation left Tehran for South Korean capital city of Seoul on Sunday morning.

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The post S Korea’s June Crude Imports from Iran Fall to 3.5-Year Low appeared first on Iran News Daily.

South Korea’s presidential office spokesman Park Soo-hyun said on Sunday that Moon and Trump had in a Sunday telephone conversation strongly condemned the latest missile launch by North Korea and agreed to work with the international community to implement the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)’s latest resolution against Pyongyang.

“The two leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation, and exert stronger and practical sanctions on North Korea so that it realizes provocative actions lead to further diplomatic isolation and economic pressure,” he said.

UNSC resolution 2375

On Monday, the UNSC unanimously voted to adopt new sanctions against North Korea over its missile and nuclear activities. The resolution, drafted by the US, was the eighth against Pyongyang over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs since 2006.

The new sanctions against Pyongyang would cut 90 percent of the country’s yearly trade and 30 percent of its annual oil imports.

On Friday, North Korea fired a medium-to-long range Hwasong-12 missile over Japan a few hours after it threatened to “sink” its southeastern neighbor. The missile flew for about 20 minutes before crashing into the Pacific Ocean about 2,000 kilometers east of Japan’s Hokkaido.

It had fired another missile over Japan days earlier.

North Korea says its missile and nuclear programs are meant to defend it against US hostility. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recently said he sought “equilibrium” in military power with the US.

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