South Korea's foreign ministry said on Friday that it hopes the issue of Iranian frozen funds will be resolved smoothly.
The ministry said it had no information regarding media reports that Iran may free five detained US citizens as part of a deal under which $6 billion in Iranian funds in South Korea would be unfrozen, according to Reuters.
"Our government has been closely consulting with involved countries such as the United States and Iran to resolve the frozen fund issue, and hopes that the issue will be resolved amicably," the ministry said in a statement.
Iran has transferred five Iranian-Americans from the IRGC-affiliated Evin prison to house arrest in exchange for frozen funds in South Korea.
The official Iranian news agency IRNA quoted a source familiar with the matter as saying that the Iranian assets, which were previously held in South Korea, were converted through a Swiss bank.
Sources familiar with the negotiations said the next step would be the transfer of $6 billion in Iranian frozen assets in South Korea to a special account in Qatar which Iran could access only for humanitarian purchases such as food and medicine.
Ties between South Korea and Iran have been tense in the past five years, after South Korea froze over $9 billion in Iranian funds under US sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program.
On 29 July, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi submitted a bill to parliament called “The Referral of Dispute between the Central Bank of Iran and the Government of the Korean Republic for Arbitration”.
Shahriar Heydari, deputy head of the Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said in press statements that the draft allows the government to reconsider the diplomatic ties with South Korea.
