Israeli security experts urged Korea to join oil sanctions against Iran on a visit to Seoul, calling the country part of an axis of “bad guys” that they said also includes China, Russia and North Korea.

The U.S. this week pressed Korea to adopt tough sanctions on Iranian oil imports, in a bid to stem the Islamic nation’s nuclear development, which Washington says aims to produce nuclear weapons.

Three academics from Israel’s Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies told media at a meeting Thursday at the Israeli Embassy in Seoul that it was “very much in South Korea’s interest” to join U.S. sanctions against Iran to limit the Islamic state’s economic power to pursue nuclear programs.

“The only way to avoid military action against Iran is to adopt harsher sanctions,” said Eytan Gilboa, professor at the BE-SA Middle Eastern security research center, which does not necessarily represent the views of the Israeli government.

“We have to damage their major sources of income. We have to damage the Iranian oil industry.

“The U.S. is asking other economies to reduce oil imports from Iran. This should not be a problem (for Korea) because other countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are ready to step up and supply oil.”

BE-SA Center director Efraim Inbar added: “South Korea has an interest in reducing the power of Iran more than any other country as Korea is a neighbor of North Korea. You have a decided interest in joining these sanctions in order for reducing the threat of your enemy.”

The professors asserted that that North Korea could gain technological knowhow from Iran if the Islamic state’s nuclear weapons capabilities grow.

And Inbar said that Israel “will not be mourning” the recent death of an Iranian scientist killed in a car bomb attack.

Nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, who worked at Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment facility, was killed in a car explosion in north Tehran on Jan. 11. Iran has blamed the U.S. and Israel for the assassination of several nuclear scientists in recent years, but both countries have denied involvement. However, Gilboa told Korean journalists that similar covert attacks had been used against rogue states in the past as alternatives to military strikes.

“I think that incidents like these could change (Iran’s) policies,” he said.

“Such covert operations should oppose the need for a military strike. These are not innocent scientists, they are very key to Iran’s nuclear weapons program. This is not the first time trying to use such covert operations to stop such persons in radical countries.”

U.S. sanctions

The International Atomic Energy Agency voiced suspicions about nuclear weapons development in a 2011 report on Iran’s nuclear program. But Iranian ambassador to Korea Ahmad Masumifar called the western sanctions that followed “illegitimate” and stressed the peaceful goals of his country’s nuclear program. The Hankyoreh newspaper quoted Masumifar as saying: “Even in this report written by nuclear experts and a observer group, there was no proof of Iranian nuclear weapons development.” Masumifar told Korean journalists that Seoul must decide in the county’s interests regarding sanctions on Iran, adding that around 2,000 South Korean companies are currently in economic partnership with Iran.

U.S. President Barack Obama last month signed a bill imposing penalties on financial institutions dealing with Iran’s central bank.

And U.S. special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control this week urged Korea to reduce its crude oil imports from Iran. Robert Einhorn called on Tuesday for Seoul to join the U.S.-led campaign to halt Tehran’s alleged nuclear weapons program through sanctions that would limit the country’s income.

Einhorn reportedly said that Washington would be “sensitive of the economic interests” of Korea and work closely to minimize adverse effects on the local economy that adopting such sanctions could bring. Korean Foreign Ministry officials reportedly responded that they would cooperate but that “more discussions with the U.S. were needed.”

A Korean Foreign ministry spokesman said: “The ROK government is joining international efforts toward the peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue as a responsible member of the international community, including additional sanctions on Iran announced last December.

“Korea also understands the objective of the U.S. sanctions on Iran and is willing to cooperate to the extent possible toward a peaceful resolution of the issue.”

Korea currently imports 10 percent of its crude oil from Iran. Korean companies, SK Innovation and Hyundai Oilbank are reportedly importing 10 and 18 percent of their total oil imports from Iran, respectively.

Korea also “does” some $18 billion in annual bilateral trade with the Middle East country, which has the world’s second largest crude oil and natural gas reserves.

Some energy experts here have said that oil from Iran is cheaper than from other countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

Korea also transports more than 80 percent of the oil it gets from the Middle East through the strategically important Gulf oil shipping route, the Strait of Hormuz.

While the Israeli professors dismissed Iran’s warnings that it would close the Strait of Hormuz in the case of a U.S. attack as empty threats, they said that Israel was considering striking Iranian nuclear facilities if Tehran did not halt its nuclear programs.

Gilboa said: “Most Israelis are very skeptical about the effectiveness of economic sanctions and that covert operations will be enough to stop this, or whether what is needed is military action.”

But Israel’s defense minister Ehud Barak said on Israeli Army Radio Wednesday that a decision on whether to strike Iran’s nuclear program was “a long way off.”

Although the Iranian Embassy in Seoul did not respond to The Korea Herald’s request for comment Thursday, the embassy said in an earlier press statement: “The Islamic Republic of Iran and Korea have always had friendly relations within the framework of international laws and Iran has always respected the independence and sovereignty of other countries, especially Korea.”

By Kirsty Taylor (kirstyt@heraldcorp.com)