EXPORTING COVID-19 TESTING KITS TO IRAN

[Anchor Lead]

Iran disclosed a bank notice, claiming that a U.S. sanction barred them from importing Korean-made COVID-19 test kits. The Korean government replied that there is no problem in preparing for the humanitarian trade with Iran.

[Pkg]

The Iranian health ministry's spokesperson disclosed a notice from a commercial bank in Korea sent to an Iranian bank last week.

The notice essentially says the bank cannot accept the import credit because of international sanctions.

Iran asked a Korean bank for payment settlement in importing Korean test kits worth 5.3 billion won but the bank refused the Iranian request. The Iranian health ministry's spokesman claimed this proves that America's criminal pressure barred such humanitarian transactions. Earlier this month, the U.S. allowed transactions of humanitarian goods with Iran, but restrictions on import credit memorandums seem to remain in place. However, the Korean Embassy in Iran explained that Seoul's humanitarian trade with Iran uses cable transfer, not import credit memorandum. Therefore, this bank notice is not relevant to the transaction and can be disregarded. Subsequently, the COVID-19 test kits are likely to be exported to Iran around the end of this month at the earliest.