Iran has freed South Korea’s Hankuk Chemi tanker and its crew after the vessel was stopped in January in the Persian Gulf, Yonhap News Agency reported Friday, citing the South Korean Foreign Ministry.
According to the agency, the ship with 13 crewmembers onboard has already left the Iranian port.
The Iranian coast guard detained the South Korean vessel on January 4. Western media outlets cited Seoul’s freezing of $7 billion Iranian assets carried out under the US request as a possible reason behind the move. In turn, Tehran claims that the tanker was detained for polluting the gulf waters.
