| Goody. Think of all the Mad Mullahs can do with that much unforged money. |
"Our government has been in talks with Iran about ways to use the frozen assets, and the Iran side has expressed its consent to the proposals we have made. The actual unfreezing of the assets will be carried out through consultations with related countries, including the United States," the South Korean Foreign Ministry said. The exact details of the financial transfer were not disclosed.
The Korea Times reported the Foreign Ministry was in talks with Washington last month about unfreezing some of the money to pay Iran’s dues to the United Nations, and possibly to use some of the funds to purchase "humanitarian items such as medicine and medical equipment" from a Swiss organization.
The Korea Times, i24 News, Yonhap News, and other outlets speculated as to a possible connection between the release of funds and Iran’s kidnapping of a South Korean oil tanker and its crew from the Persian Gulf last month. Iranian officials repeatedly linked the release of the ship and crew to South Korea unfreezing the $7 billion in frozen oil revenue.
"Early this month, Tehran said it would release the sailors, except for the captain, which coincided with Seoul’s confirmation on the progress in the talks with Washington about using the frozen money for the U.N. dues," Yonhap noted.
i24 described Iran’s seizure of the South Korean tanker as a "massive gamble" that "may have just paid off."