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Iranian Ambassador to Korea Mohammad Reza Bakhtiari said Monday that if South Korea places sanctions on Iran, South Korean companies would lose the Iranian market.

Bakhtiari said during an interview with Yonhap News Agency that “Reciprocity exists in any bilateral relationship, and if South Korea places sanctions on Iran, Iran will not sit by idly.” He warned that if the South Korean government accepts the U.S. demand to go beyond the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution and enact independent sanctions on Iran, Iran would economically retaliate. Bakhtiari said Iran would not sit by when any country slaps sanctions on it, and that there are many companies in the world that want to do business in Iran.

In particular, he said in response to the U.S. request that the Seoul branch of Bank Mellat freeze its assets or close that he opposed sanctions on the bank branch. Bakhtiari said he thought South Korea had no reason to shut down bank operations or freeze its assets just because the U.S. government had made the request. Since opening in 2000, he said, the Seoul branch of Bank Mellat has followed all regulations, including domestic regulations. He said South Korean businesses were a major customer of the branch, and that if the bank were sanctioned, the projects of those businesses would be restricted.

“Ultimately, it comes down to a question of who will be hurt the most,” said Bakhtiari.

He acknowledged that after receiving Washington’s request, the South Korean government needed to consider its relationship with the United States, but he expressed hope that South Korea, considering its friendly ties with Iran, would not go beyond its duties to the international community and take additional measures against Iran.

In response to suspicions that Iran was cooperating with North Korea regarding nuclear development, he said Iran was engaging in its own nuclear activity, which it is not sharing with anyone. He also conveyed that Iran has a normal relationship with North Korea, but that there is no special cooperation with Pyongyang regarding nuclear programs or missiles.

Prior to this, Foreign Ministry spokesman Kim Young-sun said Monday that Seoul has submitted a report on South Korea’s execution of UN sanctions to the UNSC. The report includes the direction in which South Korea will push comprehensive sanctions against Iran in accordance with UNSC resolution 1929.

Kim also said that regarding plans to place independent sanctions on Iran in accordance with the U.S. request, South Korea would continue to talk closely with Washington until early October, when the details of U.S. sanctions are released, but that Seoul planned to cooperate within the scope of possibility.

He said, “The basic position of our government is that while cooperating with the UN Security Council and the U.S. government on issues related to Iran’s nuclear activity, we will make every effort to minimize the damage to matters that do not fall under the category or proliferation.”

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