Since the re-imposition of the U.S. sanctions on Iran, a great amount of the country’s energy revenues was blocked in the target countries like South Korea and Iraq due to the restrictions imposed on the banking transactions with Iran.
After the outbreak of coronavirus and its negative impacts on the world’s economic condition, Iran began demanding access to its foreign assets since early 2020 and continuously criticized its trading partners for giving in to the U.S. pressures and not standing up against Washington’s unilateralism.
Now, after months of serious pursuit by the government, Iran’s assets in foreign banks are gradually returning to the country in the form of either euro currency or payment for the imports of basic commodities.
Last week, Hamid Hosseini, the deputy head of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce said:
- The Arab country has started repaying its energy debts to Iran and part of the dues has been settled
In December 2020, Iran reduced its gas exports to the neighboring country by over 45 million m3 a day (mcm/d), threatening to further reduce the current 5 mcm/d of gas supply to 3 mcm/d.
Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian visited Iraq in December 2020 to meet with senior officials from the country and discuss the country’s energy debts to Iran.
Also, Head of Iran-South Korea Joint Chamber of Commerce Hossein Tanhaei announced in February that $1 billion of Iran’s frozen funds in South Korea will soon be transferred to an Iran-Switzerland financial channel.
According to CBI, over $7 billion of Iranian oil revenues have been frozen in 2 South Korean banks since September 2019, when Washington's sanctions waiver for South Korea's imports of Iranian oil expired.
