South Korea is planning to deliver the vaccines to Iran on Wednesday to help the Middle Eastern nation's COVID-19 vaccination campaign, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.
Diplomatic relations between the two nations remain strained as South Korea deposited 6 billion US dollars it owed Iran for deliveries of Iranian oil in banks and could not transfer them to Iran due to US sanctions.
The South Korean authorities have unequivocally stated that they will take steps to transfer their payments for the supply of Iranian oil only in full cooperation with the United States.
FILE PHOTO: Vials labelled "AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine" placed on displayed EU flag are seen in this illustration picture
© REUTERS / DADO RUVIC
This formally meant that payments would be sent to Iran only after the US lifted sanctions.
Last month, Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong held telephone talks with his Iranian counterpart and promised to make efforts to solve the problem of Tehran's frozen funds and cooperate with Iran to help the country overcome the humanitarian crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.