South Korea has been a major supplier of pharmaceutical products for Iran, prior to the latest round of US sanctions following Washington's unilateral withdrawal from the international Iran nuclear deal last year.
According to Pouya Firouzi, secretary of Iran-South Korea Chamber of Commerce, exports have halted despite the willingness of South Korean government and private sector to have economic relations with Iran, ILNA reported.
“Following the reimposition of sanctions on Iran, Korean banks have failed to maintain their financial relations with Iran. As we speak, there is no banking relation at all between the two countries,” Financial Tribune quoted him as saying.
“However, pharmaceutical companies of South Korea have voiced their opposition to the issue. The Korean government officials have also informed the commerce chamber that all banks in the Asian country are under private management and the government has no say in their commercial policies. Notably, Korean drug firms are in effect applying their leverage to help resolve banking problems.”