...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word
Iranis a cognate form of
Aryan.The abbreviation
IRGCis the same idea as
Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term
Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either
Duceor
Führeror maybe both. They hate
amid a dispute over billions of dollars seized by Seoul was freed and sailed away early Friday, just hours ahead of further talks between Tehran and world powers over its tattered nuclear deal.
MarineTraffic.com data showed the MT Hankuk Chemi leaving Bandar Abbas in the early morning hours.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Iran released the tanker and its captain after seizing the vessel in January. The ministry says the Hankuk Chemi left an Iranian port at around 6 a.m. local time after completing an administrative process.
Iran did not immediately acknowledge the ship had been freed. The ship's owner, DM Shipping Co. Ltd. of Busan, South Korea, could not be immediately reached for comment.
The Hankuk Chemi had been traveling from a petrochemicals facility in Jubail, Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
, to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates when armed Revolutionary Guard troops stormed the vessel in January and forced the ship to change course and travel to Iran.
Iran had accused the MT Hankuk Chemi of polluting the waters in the crucial Strait of Hormuz. But the seizure was widely seen as an attempt to pressure Seoul to release billions of dollars in Iranian assets tied up in South Korean banks amid heavy American sanctions on Iran.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry did not elaborate on the terms of the ship's release. Iran in February released much of the ship's crew.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency, quoting an anonymous Foreign Ministry official, suggested Seoul may pay off Iran's United Nations
...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
dues that had been in arrears. In January, the U.N. said Iran topped a list of countries owing money to the world body with a minimum bill of over $16 million. If unpaid, Iran could lose its voting rights as required under the U.N. Charter.
"We're expecting to make a considerable progress in terms of paying the U.N. dues," the official said. "We have also exported some $30 million worth of medical equipment since we resumed the humanitarian trade with Iran last April."
The development came as Iran and world powers were set to resume negotiations in Vienna on Friday to break the standoff over U.S. sanctions against Iran and Iranian breaches of the nuclear agreement. The 2015 nuclear accord, which then-President Donald Trump
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
abandoned three years later, offered Iran sanctions relief in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.