South Korea not to cut mutual cooperation with Iran

"South Korean companies will not reconsider their relations with Iran," Yo said in a meeting with Deputy Head of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mine and Agriculture Mohammad Reza Bakhtiari.

He underlined that South Korean firms are interested in working in Iran and tend to maintain trade ties with the country.

Bakhtiari, for his part, said regardless of the sanctions that have made the situation hard for Iran and Korea to continue mutual cooperation, it is clear that Iranian firms are keen to maintain trade relations with their Korean counterparts.

"As long as we can overcome the existing barriers, the economic relations between two countries can increase to 25-30 billion dollar per year," he added.

Bakhtiari said Iran is negotiating with other parties to the JCPOA and Europe is also setting up a mechanism for continuing economic cooperation with Iran.

In a relevant development in late August, Iranian and South Korean officials in a meeting in Seoul reviewed the capacities of Iran's trade market after the US exit from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in early May.

"Iran and South Korea have age-old relations," Iranian Ambassador to Seoul Mohammad Hassan Taherian said.

The Iranian ambassador pointed to long-term presence of South Korean companies in Iran's market, and said, "The two countries have witnessed remarkable growth in their trade exchange in the past months."

Today's meeting in South Korea was aimed at promoting transparency in cooperation between the Iranian and the host country's companies and reviewing ways to continuation of Korean presence in Iran's market.

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