ROK unfreezes 30-mln-USD Iranian funds for purchase of medicine, vaccine: Press TV

TEHRAN, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The Republic of Korea (ROK) has released a small portion of Iranian funds in its banks for its purchase of medicine and vaccine, Press TV reported Wednesday, quoting a senior Iranian businessman.

"Only 30 million U.S. dollars of Iranian funds in South Korea have been released for purchase of coronavirus vaccines and other medications," Hossein Tanhayi, head of Iran-South Korea Joint Chamber of Commerce, said on Wednesday.

In February, the ROK agreed to help release at least 1 billion dollars out of the around 7 billion dollars of funds that have remained blocked in two ROK's banks since 2018, said Tanhayi.

"However, the agreement has not been implemented yet," he added.

Iran has announced that ROK was in arrears with payment of about 7 billion dollars for oil from Iran, which have been frozen in the ROK's banks because of U.S. pressures of sanctioning Iran.