Speaking in a virtual press conference on Monday, Khatibzadeh described the Sunday morning’s attack on Natanz as a crime against humanity, saying that it could result in a catastrophe.
He said Iran reserves the right to respond to the Israeli attack in an appropriate time.
The spokesman also said the Israeli attack will result in an achievement for Iran as it leads to the replacement of old machines with advanced ones.
Es’haq Jahangiri made the remarks in a joint press conference with the visiting South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-Kyun in Tehran on Sunday.
“The measure taken by South Korean banks to block Iran’s foreign exchange assets has marred the image of South Korea among the Iranian people,” Iran’s VP said, adding, “We want the South Korean government to unblock Iran’s assets in the shortest time possible and make up for the problems it has caused in recent years.”
“Unfortunately, during the past three years, South Korea has followed suit with US illegal sanctions against Iran, which lack any international legitimacy, as a result of which, relations between the two countries have become stagnant,” Jahangiri said.
He added, “The decline in relations between Iran and South Korea took place at the time that there were no international sanctions, including the United Nations’ sanctions, against Iran,” he added.
The mutual relations have been seriously strained by the South Korean banks’ move to freeze some seven billion dollars of Iran’s foreign exchanges resulting from the legal sale of its oil and gas condensates to this country, he said.
“The move by the South Korean banks to block Iran’s foreign resources took place at a time that the Iranian people are in dire need of them due to the coronavirus pandemic and its economic and health consequences. This measure by Koreans has deprived the Iranian government of major foreign exchange resources it needs to buy medical equipment, medicine and other essential goods for the country,” Iran’s vice president said.
Jahangiri expressed hope that South Korea would take proper steps to improve its position in Iran, saying that the Iranian government is ready to help Seoul make up for its past mistakes if it takes “effective and tangible” steps in this regard.
For his part, the South Korean prime minister said Tehran and Seoul have agreed to work on ways to expand mutual relations and make decisions to boost cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19.
Chung added that South Korea will increase dispatch of humanitarian aid, including medicines and medical equipment, to Iran via the two countries’ working group, expressing hope that it would be useful for the Iranian people.
The two countries would also resume an academic program to exchange medical experts and hold professional training courses, which had previously played a leading role in boosting relations between the two nations, he noted.
The South Korean prime minister noted that the two countries will make efforts to strengthen cooperation at a faster pace in parallel to their endeavor to revive the multilateral nuclear deal signed between Tehran and world powers in 2015, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Iran is struggling to return the funds frozen by South Korean banks amid a shortage of hard currency in the country which has been contending with the coronavirus pandemic over the past year.
Several billions of dollars of Iran’s money, mostly from oil and gas exports, are held abroad and are difficult to access because of tightening US sanctions in recent years.
About $2.7 billion deposited by the Seoul branch of Iran’s Bank Mellat is held by the Bank of Korea, while more than $7 billion worth of Iranian oil money is stuck at the Industrial Bank of Korea and Woori Bank, according to Yonhap news agency. South Korea’s refusal to free them has turned to a diplomatic spat.
The South Korean prime minister arrived in Tehran earlier on Sunday for talks with senior Iranian officials on bilateral issues, particularly the release of the frozen funds.
In comments on Sunday, Ali-Akbar Salehi called for global action against the “cowardly” move.
“While condemning this cowardly act, the Islamic Republic of Iran highlights the need for the international community and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to deal with this nuclear terrorism, and reserves the right to act against those ordering and perpetrating the attack,” he said.
“Also, in order to foil the objectives of this act of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran will seriously press ahead with developing nuclear technology on the one hand, and striving to have cruel sanctions on the other,” Salehi added.
“The act committed against Natanz uranium enrichment facility indicates the defeat of those who are opposed to the country’s industrial and political progress in order to stop the extensive development of our nuclear industry on the one hand and [disrupt] successful talks aimed at lifting cruel sanctions on the other,” he said.
“On National Nuclear Technology Day, the latest achievements of the country’s young and diligent scientists were displayed and at the same time the prospects for the removal of sanctions came to light,” he noted.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh had earlier said the South Korean prime minister will meet with Iranian officials and discuss bilateral issues including the unlawful restrictions imposed against the access of the Central Bank of Iran to its assets in the East Asian country.
“Technical arrangements are being made by the two countries to finalise the details of the visit,” he added.
During his stay in Tehran, the South Korean official will hold talks with Iran’s First Vice-President Es’haq Jahangiri and Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf.
He will also hold a friendly meeting with Ali Larijani, the Supreme Leader’s advisor, considering the history of relations between the two Iranian and Korean officials.
In a press briefing on Sunday, Sima-Sadat Lari reported 21,063 new cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total number of cases to 2,070,141.
So far, Lari added, 1,710,974 patients have recovered from the disease or been discharged from the hospital.
Lari said 4,392 patients are also in critical conditions caused by more severe infection.
The spokeswoman noted that 13,673,466 COVID-19 tests have been taken across the country so far.
She said currently 257 cities are in the “red” zone, 129 cities are in the “orange” zone, 51 are in the “yellow” zone, and only 11 cities are in the “blue” zone in terms of coronavirus outbreak.
According to the AEOI spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi, “the incident caused no casualties or contamination.
“Electricity was affected at the Natanz facility,” he said, adding that the cause of the incident is being investigated.
The incident comes a day after Tehran launched new advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges at the site.
The Natanz facility, which is located in the desert in the central province of Isfahan, is the centrepiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment programme and monitored by inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog.
A spokesman for the IAEA told Reuters by email, “We are aware of the media reports. We have no comment at this stage.”
In July last year, a fire broke out at the Natanz facility, which the government said was an Israeli attempt to sabotage Iran’s nuclear programme. In 2010, the Stuxnet computer virus, widely believed to have been developed by the United States and Israel, was discovered after it was used to attack Natanz.
According to Khatibzadeh, the Iranian fishermen were released thanks to the efforts and measures of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and returned home on Thursday, April 8, 2021.
In his Saturday statement, the Iranian spokesman also thanked and appreciated the Comoran nation and government for their humanitarian measures and assistance in this regard.
