TEHRAN, July 29 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian president has officially brought forth a motion in the parliament over the Republic of Korea (ROK)'s crude import arrears to Tehran, the official news agency IRNA reported Saturday.

 

The report revealed a letter from Ebrahim Raisi to Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf dated July 22, showing that a bill titled "referring the dispute between the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and the ROK government to arbitration" had been submitted to the parliament.

 

The bill, approved by the cabinet on July 5, indicated the beginning of legal formalities for reclaiming the CBI's financial assets frozen in ROK's banks and making the ROK side to pay compensation for the delay in paying off its arrears, according to IRNA.

 

It is estimated that Iran has funds worth more than 7 billion U.S. dollars in ROK's two banks that it is unable to access because the banks and authorities in ROK refuse to process them for fear of possible U.S. penalties.

 

The ROK was one of the largest customers of Iran's crude oil prior to 2018, the year when Washington pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and reimposed its unilateral sanctions on Tehran.