Iranian assets frozen in South Korea have been transferred to Switzerland’s central bank for exchange and transfer to Iran, according to South Korean media reports on Monday.
The Swiss National Bank intends to exchange its $6 billion holdings in won for dollars and then euros in the currency market. An unnamed currency market source cited by Yonhap Infomax stated that approximately 300 billion won ($223.85 million) to 400 billion won will be converted each day over the next five weeks.
A finance ministry official in South Korea declined to verify the report, citing the sensitive nature of the issue from a legal and diplomatic perspective.
In a recent agreement between Iran and the United States, five U.S. citizens detained in Iran were released, and Iranian assets in South Korea were unfrozen and transferred to an account in Qatar, which Iran can access. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi stated last week that the released assets would be utilized to boost domestic production.
($1 = 1,340.2100 won)
(Reporting by Yena Park and Jihoon Lee)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
