South Korea to dispatch diplomat for Tehran talks after Iran seizes tanker

South Korea has decided to send a delegation to Iran to seek the release of a tanker seized in Gulf waters by Iranian forces.

A senior diplomat will go ahead with a planned visit to Tehran amid tensions over $7 billion in Iranian funds ($215,066) frozen in Korean banks due to US sanctions.

News of the visit came as Seoul’s foreign ministry called in the Iranian ambassador to South Korea for a meeting and urged the early release of the South Korean-flagged tanker and its crew of 20.

The tanker was carrying a cargo of more than 7,000 tonnes of ethanol when it…