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| From left to right, the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, the air-defense destroyer HMS Defender and the guided-missile destroyer USS Farragut transit the Strait of Hormuz In this file photo taken Nov. 19, 2019. AFP-Yonhap |
The foreign ministry has called in Iran's top envoy in South Korea to lodge a protest over his reported remarks hinting at the possibility that Tehran could sever ties with Seoul should it send naval forces to the tense Strait of Hormuz, an official said Saturday.
On Friday, the ministry brought in Iranian Ambassador to South Korea Saeed Badamchi Shabestari and asked if he made the remarks as reported in the local daily Joong-Ang Ilbo that day, according to the official.
The ambassador reportedly told the ministry that he did not directly mention the possible severing of bilateral ties, although he said Seoul's participation in a U.S.-led maritime security campaign in the strait could have an impact on Seoul-Tehran ties.
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| Iranian Ambassador to South Korea Saeed Badamchi Shabestari, left, who was newly appointed to the post, with President Moon Jae-in, center, and Foreign M Kang Kyung-wha at Cheong Wa Dae in December 2018. Korea Times file |
"We called in the ambassador as we felt the need to deliver our concerns if it had been true that an ambassador who is in Korea to maintain friendly bilateral ties had directly talked about the severing of ties," the official said.
"We have listened sufficiently to his explanations," the official added.
Seoul has been mulling whether to send forces to the strategically vital waterway off Iran after the U.S. called on its allies to join efforts to safeguard the strait amid heightened military tension between Washington and Tehran. (Yonhap)
