Tehran, January 17 Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hatibzad said on the 17th that Iran intends to use frozen funds in South Korea to pay United Nations membership dues.
The Islamic Republic of Iran News Agency quoted Hatibzad as saying that in recent years, despite unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran, Iran has still paid United Nations dues through limited financial remittance channels.
At present, Iran is consulting with the United Nations Secretariat to pay its arrears with frozen funds in South Korea.
It is reported that the United Nations recently notified that several countries, including Iran, have temporarily lost their voting rights at relevant United Nations meetings due to arrears.
The U.S. government unilaterally withdrew from the comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue in May 2018, and then restarted and added a series of sanctions against Iran.
Affected by the expansion of U.S. sanctions against Iran, two South Korean banks have frozen about $7 billion in Iranian funds since September 2019.
Iran has asked South Korea not to freeze Iranian funds in South Korea on several occasions because of U.S. sanctions.
Choi Jong-kyung-kyung, the first official of the South Korean Foreign Ministry, held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif, Central Bank Governor Hermaty, the South Korean tanker seized by Iran and Iran’s frozen funds in South Korea on the 11th of this month, and the two countries have not yet reached an agreement on this.
