SEOUL (Reuters) – Iran is set to regain its right to vote in the United Nations General Assembly after Soul paid Thran’s arrears to the world body with Iranian funds frozen in the country, Korea said on Sunday. from South.
Iran regained its right to vote at the UN in June after a similar payment, but said this month it had lost it again because it could not transfer the funds needed to pay its bills. dues due to US sanctions.
The release of Iran’s frozen funds requires US approval.
Soul “completed on Friday the payment of Iran’s UN dues of about 18 million dollars (15.8 million euros) through frozen Iranian funds in South Korea, in active cooperation with the agencies concerned such as the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Department of Treasury (OFAC) and the United Nations Secretariat,” South Korea’s finance minister said in a statement.
The UN Soul office could not be reached for comment.
Last week, Iran urged South Korea to help pay its UN dues with frozen funds because it feared it would lose its right to vote in the 193-member General Assembly, Iran added. Minister.
Thran has repeatedly demanded the release of around $7 billion of his funds frozen in South Korean banks under US sanctions, saying Soul was holding the money “hostage”.
An official in South Korea’s finance ministry declined to say how much frozen Iranian funds remain after paying UN dues, citing secrecy laws.
(Report Joori Roh, with the editorial staff of Duba, French version Camille Raynaud)