TEHRAN -- Iranians are
criticizing the South Korean embassy in Tehran for donating 2,000 Covid masks to a hospital while Seoul keeps $7 billion of Iran’s frozen funds.
Ambassador Yun Kang-hyeon visited a private hospital in Tehran on Sunday and donated Covid masks, in what media in Iran and prominent citizens criticized as an insensitive act.
Some media outlets called the ambassador’s donation a “humiliating act” as Seoul has refused to release $7 billion of Iran’s money frozen by two of its banks, since the U.S. imposed banking sanctions on Iran in 2018.
“Iranians do not need this negligible amount of masks you have bothered to donate. It is worth mentioning that Iran is now an exporter of masks itself,” a user wrote on Twitter. “It would rather be very civilized to release the Iranian nation’s assets instead.”
“The South Korean regime has confiscated $8 billion of Iranian assets after consuming Iranian fuel. Seoul helps Trump/Biden murder Iranians as the Iranian government battles Corona. Now the Korean embassy insults the Iranian people by giving 2,000 masks to a PRIVATE HOSPITAL,” political analyst and academic Muhammad Marandi tweeted.
The embassy tweeted pictures of the ambassador’s visit to the hospital showing a few cartons of masks. This led to negative reactions, with Alef website not only criticizing the embassy but also attacking the private hospital for accepting the gift.
“Is anyone in this hospital reading newspapers or following the news to know what South Korea has done to us during sanctions?” the newspaper asked.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh also reacted to the news on Monday, calling the donation “a joke”.
Last month, Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian warned that Iran would not stop the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) from filing a lawsuit against South Korea if Seoul failed to take practical steps to unblock Iranian funds.