South Korea Friday joined a fresh multinational effort to press Iran to scrap its suspected nuclear weapons programme, adding more than 100 names to a financial blacklist of Iranian firms and individuals. The measures announced by the finance ministry did not include a ban on imports of petrochemicals or crude oil, in what one analyst saw as an attempt to protect its economic ties with the Middle Eastern nation.
The ministry said it has added 99 Iranian firms and six individuals to 24 individuals and 102 Iranian entities blacklisted by Seoul in September last year. Those on the blacklist will require approval from South Korea's central bank before conducting any foreign currency transactions.
The ministry said it would alert domestic companies importing petrochemicals of the risks they face because of US sanctions. Britain, Canada and the United States slapped sanctions last month on Iran's financial, petrochemical and energy sectors following a UN nuclear agency report that strongly suggested Tehran is researching atomic weapons.
Robert Einhorn, the US State Department's special adviser for non-proliferation, visited Seoul last week and said US allies should ban petrochemical imports from Iran. But he ruled out a need for Seoul to halt imports of Iranian crude, which make up 8.3 percent of its total needs.
The US is South Korea's key ally and stations 28,500 troops in the country to protect it from North Korea. But Iran is one of the South's top trade partners in the Middle East. Any reduction or halt in Iranian crude imports would likely disrupt the Korean economy and complicate its efforts to hold down inflation.
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