S.Korean Minister Heads to Vienna for Talks on Iranian Frozen Assets

A senior South Korean diplomat will hold talks in Vienna this week with Iran and world powers over how to resolve the issue of frozen Iranian assets held in the Asian country. (Reuters)
A senior South Korean diplomat will hold talks in Vienna this week with Iran and world powers over how to resolve the issue of frozen Iranian assets held in the Asian country. (Reuters)
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S.Korean Minister Heads to Vienna for Talks on Iranian Frozen Assets

A senior South Korean diplomat will hold talks in Vienna this week with Iran and world powers over how to resolve the issue of frozen Iranian assets held in the Asian country. (Reuters)
A senior South Korean diplomat will hold talks in Vienna this week with Iran and world powers over how to resolve the issue of frozen Iranian assets held in the Asian country. (Reuters)

A senior South Korean diplomat will hold talks in Vienna this week with Iran and world powers over how to resolve the issue of frozen Iranian assets held in the Asian country, the South Korean foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Indirect talks between Iran and the United States on salvaging the 2015 Iran nuclear deal resumed on Monday.

Diplomats from all sides have indicated they are hoping to have a breakthrough by the end of January or early February, but sharp differences remain with the toughest issues still unresolved.

However, the arrival of South Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun could be a positive signal. Iran has repeatedly demanded the release of its frozen assets in several countries because of US sanctions, including $7 billion in South Korea. Any release would need to be approved by Washington.

The ministry said in a statement the delegation "would explore ways to resolve the issue of frozen Iranian assets in Korea" through consultations on the sidelines of the nuclear negotiations with Iran and in coordination with the United States, France, Germany and Britain.

The eighth round of talks, the first under Iran's new hardline President Ebrahim Raisi, resumed on Monday after adding some new Iranian demands to a working text. Western powers have said progress was too slow and negotiators had "weeks not months" left before the 2015 deal becomes meaningless.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson again warned Iran on Tuesday that time was running out to salvage the deal.

Little remains of that deal, which lifted sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its atomic activities. Then-President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of it in 2018, re-imposing US sanctions, and Iran later breached many of the deal's nuclear restrictions and kept pushing well beyond them.

Iran refuses to meet directly with US officials, meaning that other parties, which also include Russia and China, must shuttle between the two sides.

The United States has repeatedly expressed frustration at this format, saying it slows down the process, and Western officials still suspect Iran is simply playing for time.



At Least 14 Killed, 37 Wounded in Russian Missile Strike on Ukraine

Rescuers work at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine March 7, 2025. REUTERS/Vitalii Hnidyi
Rescuers work at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine March 7, 2025. REUTERS/Vitalii Hnidyi
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At Least 14 Killed, 37 Wounded in Russian Missile Strike on Ukraine

Rescuers work at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine March 7, 2025. REUTERS/Vitalii Hnidyi
Rescuers work at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine March 7, 2025. REUTERS/Vitalii Hnidyi

At least 11 people were killed and 30 wounded, including five children, in Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine's eastern city of Dobropillia overnight , Ukrainian Interior Ministry said on Saturday.

Another three civilians were killed in a drone attack on the Kharkiv region in the northeast, the ministry added.

The ministry said Russian forces attacked Dobropillia with ballistic missiles, multiple rockets and drones, damaging eight multi-storey buildings and 30 cars, reported Reuters.

"While extinguishing the fire, the occupiers struck again, damaging the fire truck," the ministry said on the Telegram messenger.

The ministry published photos of partially destroyed buildings engulfed in fire and rescuers removing rubble from the buildings.

Dobropillia, home to about 28,000 people before the war, is in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, 22 kilometers (13.67 miles) from the front line north of the key hub of Pokrovsk, which the Russian troops have been attacking for weeks.

The ministry also said at least three were killed and 7 injured in a separate drone attack on Kharkiv region overnight.

Ukrainian military said Russia attacked Ukraine overnight with two Iskander-M ballistic missiles and one Iskander-K cruise missile as well as 145 drones.

They said air forces shot down one cruise missile and 79 drones. The military said another 54 drones did not reach their targets likely due to electronic countermeasures.