Iran, South Korea plan ‘comprehensive’ boost in ties

Iran’s new ambassador to South Korea said there is a ‘comprehensive plan’ to expand ties with Seoul in face of the resumption of US actions.

The plan would address the expansion of relations in political, economic, cultural, and parliamentary areas, Saeid Badamchi Shabestari told IRNA on Saturday.

“The plan will be implemented in line with a timeschedule and would take priorities into consideration,” said Shabestari, who arrived in the South Korean capital last week to take up his position as the Islamic Republic’s new ambassador.

The envoy regretted that the ties were hit by US withdrawal from a multilateral nuclear deal with Iran in May and the subsequent imposition of sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

The first round of the bans were implemented in August and the second round is due to go into effect on November 4 targeting Iran’s energy sector, including oil exports.

He, however, said the ties were ‘friendly and strong’ in nature. The fact that the relations had been founded on ‘reality’ would keep both countries determined to deepen the ties in face of ‘hostile and illegal unilateral actions’ of the US, he added.

Iranian and Korean economies complement one another, he said, recalling that bilateral trade exceeded the $12-billion benchmark last year. “I consider the mutual interactions and cooperation to be following a very optimistic trend,” the envoy noted.

The two sides have devised several courses of action to galvanize mutual economic and trade relations in the face of US measures which include using the capacities offered by small and medium-sized industries and enterprises.

Seoul, which had stopped Iranian oil imports under US pressure, had been seeking waivers from US sanctions to continue buying Iranian crude, Shabestari said.