Washington has agreed “in principle” on the partial transfer of Iranian funds held by South Korean banks under US sanctions to Switzerland, South Korea’s official KBS World Radio station cited a senior foreign ministry official as saying.
The governments of South Korea and the US have discussed wiring the Iranian assets to Switzerland, from where it can be sent back to the Middle East country via the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement(SHTA).
Switzerland, which also represents the US’s interests in Iran, launched SHTA last February with the stated aim of helping humanitarian items reach Iran despite the sanctions. The mechanism ensures that Swiss-based exporters and trading companies in the food, pharmaceutical, and medical sectors have a secure payment channel with a Swiss bank.
Iran's Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati told reporters on Wednesday that Iran will receive one billion US dollars from South Korea, as the first tranche of some seven billion dollars in frozen assets that Seoul has agreed to release.