South Korea will send a special envoy to Iran as Seoul ramps up efforts to secure safe passage for dozens of its ships stranded in the Strait of Hormuz for weeks, with traffic through the key waterway still severely constrained despite the US-Iran ceasefire.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun spoke to his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, yesterday by phone and stressed the need for swift resumption of free navigation for all vessels in strait, Cho’s office said. It was their second phone call in three weeks.
“Minister Cho decided to dispatch a special envoy to Iran to discuss the situation in the Middle East and bilateral issues between South Korea and Iran,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The announcement comes after a 14-day truce took effect this week, which the US said was conditional on Iran unblocking the Strait of Hormuz. But the agreement has yet to translate into a meaningful increase in shipping. Just a handful of vessels were observed making the voyage out of the Persian Gulf this week. Under normal conditions, about 135 vessels traverse the strait every day.
South Korea, which imports almost all of its energy needs, with some 70 per cent via the waterway, currently has 26 ships stranded in the area.
Bloomberg