Iran's Statement on 'Lawsuit Against Korea for Oil Payments'... Ministry of Foreign Affairs Summons Ambassador to Korea for Protest

The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Iran announced on the 17th (local time) that it has provided COVID-19 testing equipment worth 1 million dollars to the National Pasteur Institute of Iran. On the left in the photo is Alireza Biglari, Director of the Pasteur Institute, and on the right is Yoo Jeong-hyun, Korean Ambassador.

Regarding the statement by an Iranian diplomatic official that "if payment for crude oil exports is not repaid, a lawsuit may be filed against South Korea," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Iranian Ambassador to South Korea on the 21st to lodge a protest.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on that day, Ko Kyung-seok, Director General of the Africa and Middle East Bureau, called Said Badamchi Shabestari, the Iranian Ambassador to South Korea, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Doryeom-dong, Seoul, in the morning to verify the accuracy of the interview reported by Iranian local media on the 19th and to express regret.

Earlier, Seyed Abbas Mousavi, spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated in an interview with Iranian media that South Korea had participated in U.S. sanctions and frozen Iran's crude oil export payments without legal grounds, asserting, "If this issue is not resolved diplomatically, we will summon the South Korean Ambassador to Iran and file a lawsuit in international court to recover this debt."

Kim In-chul, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a regular briefing that it was "a very regrettable report," adding, "Regarding the remarks reported by Iran, the relevant authorities summoned the Iranian Ambassador to South Korea and expressed regret over the inappropriate remarks."

Spokesperson Kim also conveyed that Ambassador Shabestari sought understanding and emphasized that the statement was not the official position of the Iranian government.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.