Seoul denies any discussion with Washington on percentage of oil import cuts


Iran’s top envoy to Korea said he was informed by the Korean government that it might cut Iranian oil imports to the level of 2010 ― a reduction of 10 to 15 percent ― as part of the U.S.-led sanctions to pressure Tehran to end its nuclear ambitions.

“They (The Korean government) informed us that they might decrease at the level of 2010 oil imports,” Iranian Ambassador Ahmad Masoumifar told The Korea Herald. “Maybe decrease by at least 10-15 percent,” he said during a reception to mark the country’s national day on Friday.

Korea’s Ministry of Knowledge Economy, however, denied any such plans, saying nothing had been decided yet.

After Washington requested that Seoul join the sanctions last month, the two allies have been in talks, but there has been no mention about the percentage by which oil imports would be cut, ministry spokesman Kwon Pyung-oh said.

Seoul has been seeking an exemption for this year from the application of the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act that bans economic entities dealing with the Iranian central bank from doing business with U.S.-based financial institutions. Because the Iranian central bank collects the country’s oil export revenues, the act, which goes into effect around July, essentially forces other countries to stop importing oil from Iran.

The act has a provision that allows exceptions for countries that reduce imports by “significant” amounts. States that have closely collaborated with the U.S. can be exempt from the act for 120 days.

The U.S. senators who sponsored the 2012 National Defense Authorized Act suggested an 18-percent cut for a foreign country to be eligible for the waiver of sanctions on its financial institutions.

“There has been no mention between the U.S. and Korea as to the percentage of oil import cuts from Iran,” Kwon said. “The U.S. lawmakers who sponsored the law proposed an 18-percent cut, but the U.S. government has never spoken about it.”

The Iranian ambassador said the U.S.-led sanctions will have a negative effect for Tehran in the short term, but not in the medium and long term.

“In the medium and long term, we can find ways,” Masoumifar said. “In this global world, sanctions are not useful. Also, sanctions are not working because our trade (volume) rose.”

The Iranian envoy expressed confidence in the importance of his country in Korea’s import system.

“The Korea government cannot stop importing Iranian oil because no other country can take the place of Iranian exports. The Korean oil import system is built based on Iranian crude oil,” he said.

Iranian crude accounts for about 10 percent of Korea’s oil imports. There have been concerns in Korea that a drastic cut of oil imports from Iran would have negative effects on Korea’s economy.

Asked about the possibility that the relationship between Seoul and Tehran would sour in the wake of the oil import issue, Iranian Embassy spokesperson Hossein Darvishi stressed that everything depends on the Korean side.

“It depends on the Korean side. We want to preserve the relations, we don’t want to harm the relations between the two countries. But we know that there is pressure (to Korea) from the U.S. side,” he said.

The Seoul government is also set to dispatch on Wednesday a delegation to the meeting of the International Energy Agency in Paris, the first gathering of IEA member states since the sanctions against Iran took shape.

The IEA promotes alternate energy sources including renewable energy, rational energy policies and multinational energy technology cooperation among member states to prepare against oil producing nations’ supply cuts.

Seoul plans to make a return visit late this month to meet Robert Einhorn, U.S. special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control, who visited Korea in January, raising speculation that it might come to a conclusion by then.

By Kim So-hyun and Yoav Cerralbo