[ti:Iran Denies Holding Crew of Seized South Korean Ship as Hostages]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]Iran has denied it is using crew members
[00:04.32]aboard a seized South Korean oil tanker as hostages.
[00:11.44]Armed troops from Iran's Revolutionary Guard
[00:16.08]seized the ship Monday near the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.
[00:23.40]The tanker was carrying 20 crew members.
[00:27.80]The seizure appears to be an attempt to pressure South Korea
[00:33.60]to release around $7 billion frozen under American economic sanctions.
[00:42.72]Critics of Iran have long accused the country of hijacking ships
[00:49.36]and seizing foreign prisoners as a method
[00:53.36]of strengthening their position in negotiations.
[00:57.76]In a similar incident in 2019,
[01:01.60]Iran seized a British tanker and held it for two months.
[01:08.04]"We've become used to such allegations,"
[01:11.52]an Iranian government spokesman told reporters.
[01:17.08]He went on to blame South Korea for the incident:
[01:22.00]"...it is Korea's government that is holding $7 billion,
[01:27.08]which belongs to us, hostage on baseless grounds."
[01:32.36]South Korea called in Iran's ambassador to demand that the ship be released.
[01:40.88]Officials said a team was being sent to Iran to discuss the situation.
[01:48.52]Iran said its forces stopped the ship for violating environmental rules
[01:55.04]by polluting waters in the Persian Gulf.
[01:59.52]However, an official with DM Shipping Company, the ship's owner,
[02:05.12]denied the tanker was polluting the waters, The Associated Press reported.
[02:12.64]Iran's threat to block shipping in the Gulf is one way to gain leverage
[02:19.04]in its expected negotiations with the administration of President-elect Joe Biden.
[02:27.16]South Korea, like other countries, is required to limit Iran's access
[02:33.80]to its financial system under U.S. sanctions.
[02:39.08]The restrictions were ordered by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
[02:46.72]The United States placed strong restrictions on Iran
[02:51.68]after it withdrew from a nuclear agreement
[02:55.00]reached with Iran under former president Barack Obama.
[03:01.08]Biden has said he wants to reenter the nuclear agreement.
[03:05.96]But doing so is likely to present diplomatic problems.
[03:12.32]Since the United States withdrew from the deal,
[03:15.76]Iran has taken steps that violate it.
[03:19.72]Biden said Iran must fully obey the agreement in order for the deal to be saved.
[03:28.16]Iran has said the United States must first lift the sanctions.
[03:34.36]Iranian officials say the sanctions are illegal and have hurt its economy,
[03:41.36]including its ability to deal
[03:44.16]with the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the Middle East.
[03:50.40]In another development, Iran announced Monday
[03:54.84]it had increased uranium enrichment at an underground production center.
[04:01.76]That is its latest move to violate the former nuclear deal's terms.
[04:08.72]South Korea's Foreign Minister, Kang Kyung-wha, said on Tuesday
[04:14.80]she was making diplomatic efforts to secure the release of the tanker.
[04:21.28]South Korea's Vice Foreign Minister, Choi Jong-kun,
[04:25.68]is expected to visit Iran on Sunday.
[04:29.40]A government official in Tehran told Iranian state TV
[04:35.12]the visit had already been planned to discuss the frozen money.
[04:40.60]I'm Bryan Lynn.
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