Iran and South Korea have had diplomatic relations since 1962.[1] Throughout history, the two countries have maintained a normal relationship despite South Korea's close relationship with the United States, and Iran's close relationship with North Korea (making Iran one of the few countries in the world which maintains good relations with both North Korea and South Korea). However, many South Koreans disapprove of Iran's nuclear program and its open alliance with North Korea, sometimes leading the South Korean government to sanction Iran.[2]
Korea's and Iran's long-running relationship started with cultural exchanges date back to the Three Kingdoms of Korea era, more than 1,600 years ago by the way of the Silk Road. A dark blue glass was found in the Cheonmachong Tomb, one of Silla's royal tombs unearthed in Gyeongju. An exotic golden sword was found in Gyerim-ro, a street also located in Gyeongju. These are all relics that are presumed to be sent to Silla from ancient Iran through the Silk Road. It was only the Goryeo Dynasty during King Hyeongjong's reign when trade with Persia was officially recorded in Korean history. But in academic circles, it is presumed that both countries had active cultural exchanges during the 7th century Silla era which means the relationship between Korea and Iran began more than 1500 years ago.[3]
"We have a myth in an ancient Persian book (The Kush Nama ) that tells of a Persian prince who went to Silla in the seventh century and got married to a Korean princess, thus forming a royal marriage." Park Geun-hye said during a Festival celebrating Iran and Korea's 1500 years of shared cultural ties. She then said, "this is actually quite a good plot for making a film together." Her suggestion was received with a lot of applause.[3]
Other items uncovered during the excavation include a silver bowl engraved with an image of the Persian goddess Anahita; a golden dagger from Persia; clay busts; and figurines portraying Persian merchants. Samguk Sagi—the official chronicle of the Three Kingdoms era, compiled in 1145—contains further descriptions of commercial items sold by Persian merchants and widely used in Silla society. The influence of Persian culture was profoundly felt in other ways as well, most notably in the fields of music, visual arts, and literature. The popularity of Iranian designs in Korea can be seen in the widespread use of pearl-studded roundels and symmetrical, zoomorphic patterns. An ancient Persian epic poem, the Kushnameh, contains detailed descriptions of Silla.[4]
In June 2007, South Korea's then-foreign minister, Song Min-soon, supported a diplomatic solution to the international disagreement over Iran's nuclear program.[8] In November 2008, South Korea's next foreign minister, Yu Myung-hwan, said that Iran needs to reassure the international community of the peaceful nature of its nuclear program. According to UN Secretary GeneralBan Ki-moon, a South Korean, "the Iranian foreign minister stressed that his country is pushing for a nuclear program for peaceful purposes."[9]
Iran's nuclear program and its alliance with North Korea have been under subject of criticism in South Korea, sometimes affected relations. South Korea unveiled sanctions against Iran in 2010 to show its open disapproval.[2]
Economic relationship
While politically not close, Iran and South Korea enjoy much closer economic ties with bilateral trade totaling roughly $10 billion in 2008.[10] Despite disagreements over Iran’'s nuclear enrichment activity, Vice President of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency Hong Ki-Wha and the head of Iran's Investment and Technical and Economic Assistances Organization, Mohammad Khaza'i, signed a memorandum of understanding in April 2007, in which they agreed to form a committee with the aim of boosting trade between their two countries.[11] Kim Sung Gun, South Korea's parliamentary delegation head to Iran in March 2007 noted that Korean companies are eager to invest in Iran and added that he hopes the two countries can encourage bilateral investment.[12]
According to a Middle East Economic Survey, Iran exported 157,000 barrels of crude oil per day to South Korea in July 2009. Though South Korea has decreased total crude oil imports from the Middle East by 14.7% compared to the previous year, Iran remains South Korea's fourth largest source of crude oil.[13]
In May 2009, South Korean ministers participated in a major conference on foreign investment in Iran.[14] South Korea also attended the Iranian gas forum on September 26–27, 2009 alongside Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, the Netherlands, and Malaysia.[15]
According to a report by the United States government, as of April 2010 there were three South Korean firms active in Iran's hydrocarbon sector between 2005 and 2009 that received US government contracts totaling roughly $880 million. These were the Daelim Industrial Company, Hyundai Heavy Industries, and GS Engineering and Construction.[16] On July 3, 2010, Iran the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) cancelled a $1.2 billion contract with GS Engineering and Construction, accusing the firm of failing to fulfill its obligations. The South Korean company had been tasked with removing hydrogen sulfide from gas pumped from Iran's South Pars gas field after signing an agreement in October 2009.[17]
Iran has about local 2,500 SME trading partners in South Korea. It said that more than 600 out of the 2,500 firms see their ratio of exports to Iran exceed 50 percent.[18]
Diplomatic and military cooperation
South Korea and Iran have continuously disagreed on the latter's nuclear enrichment activities. In January 2007, Ban Ki-Moon, South Korea's former foreign minister, assumed the position of UN Secretary General. Since assuming office, Ban has supported a number of sanctions against the Islamic Republic for failing to comply with the International Atomic Energy Agency, further straining relations between the two countries.[19] Impediments notwithstanding, South Korea and Iran have had a number of official meetings to discuss bilateral trade and political cooperation and have signed several memorandums of understanding, including on media cooperation, trade-investment, and technical cooperation between the two.[11]
During a March 2009 meeting between National Assembly Speaker of South Korea Kim Hyong-o and Iranian Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, Kim expressed his hope that Iran and South Korea expand parliamentary cooperation.[20] That same month, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister in Asia and Pacific Affairs suggested that Iran and South Korea should cooperate to help establish security in Afghanistan.[10]
In November 2009, Iran announced that it was prepared to aid in resolving the Korean peninsula crisis. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that Iran welcomes mutual understanding and agreement between South and North Korea to promote peace and stability in the region. During a meeting with South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-Jon at the end of October 2009, Mottaki said that "mutual cooperation has not been balanced in all fields and we hope to be able to make it more balanced." The South Korean senior diplomat responded that "we want promotion of ties in all economic fields and implementing joint projects and deepening bilateral cooperation in direction of mutual interests."[21]
On January 6, 2010, the head of the Iran-South Korea parliamentary friendship group, Hossein Hashemi, and Speaker Kim Hyong-o met in Seoul in order to discuss ways to foster bilateral cooperation, particularly, in the economic and energy sectors.[22] During the meeting, Hyong-o referred to the ample potentials existing on both sides for increasing mutual cooperation and expressed satisfaction over the growth of bilateral ties between the two countries. On Iran's nuclear issue, he stressed Iran's right to use peaceful nuclear energy, and added "all countries are entitled to use peaceful nuclear energy and we believe Iran's nuclear program is for civilian purposes."[23]
In April 2010, in an effort to improve the two countries' "mutual understanding and acquaintance," South Korea and Iran agreed to exchange news and media teams and enhance current levels of educational and technical collaboration. The decision to expand cooperation in the field of media was taken following a meeting between Islamic Republic News Agency Directory Ali-Akbar Javanfekr and Lee Seung Jung, the head of the South Korea Press Association.[24]
Although "high politics" ties between the two countries are not especially developed, Seoul and Tehran have taken steps to engage each other in cultural spheres. In May 2009, the South Korean Vice-Cultural Minister Jae-min Shin and the South Korean Ambassador to Tehran Kim Young-mok attended a ceremony entitled "Korea, Sparkling Night in Iran" where both officials expressed the hope that such events would bring about improved political, economic and cultural relations between South Korea and Iran.[25] In October 2009, South Korea's Pusan International Film festival will host two Iranian filmmakers, Payment Hagani and Mahmoud Kalari. The Iranian filmmakers will present their films as well as participate in an educational workshop for aspiring Asian directors.[citation needed] Furthermore, the Iran National Library and Archives (INLA) has agreed to work to increase bilateral cooperation with the National Library of [South] Korea. In March 2010, INLA Director Ali-Akbar Ashari met with his South Korean counterpart, Chul-min Mo, to sign an agreement pledging to exchange experience in staff training and library science, and to hold book fairs.[26]
Tensions
While Iran and South Korea are generally friendly, the two countries nonetheless have sporadic tensions. In 2020, South Korea decided to freeze all Iranian assets in the country in fear it could be financed for the nuclear program of Iran. In response, Iran threatened to take legal attack on South Korea's goods, leading to Iranian ambassador being called by Seoul to complain over the perceived threat from Iran.[27]
Geography is an important factor in informing Iran's foreign policy. Following the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the newly formed Islamic Republic, under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini, dramatically reversed the pro-American foreign policy of the last Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Since then the country's policies have oscillated between the two opposing tendencies of revolutionary ardour to eliminate Western and non-Muslim influences while promoting the Islamic revolution abroad, and pragmatism, which would advance economic development and normalization of relations. Iran's bilateral dealings are accordingly sometimes confused and contradictory.
India–Iran relations are the bilateral relationship between the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Independent India and Iran established diplomatic relations on 15 March 1950. However, ties between both ancient Persia and ancient India date back millennia. During much of the Cold War, relations between India and the erstwhile Imperial State of Iran suffered due to their differing political interests: India endorsed a non-aligned position but fostered strong links with the Soviet Union, while Iran was an open member of the Western Bloc and enjoyed close ties with the United States. While India did not welcome the 1979 Islamic Revolution, relations between the two states strengthened momentarily in its aftermath. However, Iran's continued support for Pakistan in the India–Pakistan conflict and India's close relations with Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War greatly strained bilateral ties. In the 1990s, both India and Iran supported the Northern Alliance against the Taliban in Afghanistan, the latter of which received overt Pakistani backing and ruled most of the country until the 2001 United States-led invasion. They continued to collaborate in supporting the broad-based anti-Taliban government, led by Ashraf Ghani and backed by the international community, until the Taliban captured Kabul in 2021 and re-established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. India and Iran signed a defence cooperation agreement in December 2002.
The dynamic between the League of Arab States and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been ambivalent, owing to the latter's varying bilateral conduct with each country of the former. Iran is located on the easternmost frontier of the Arab League, which consists of 22 Arab countries and spans the bulk of the Middle East and North Africa, of which Iran is also a part. The Arab League's population is dominated by ethnic Arabs, whereas Iran's population is dominated by ethnic Persians; and while both sides have Islam as a common religion, their sects differ, with Sunnis constituting the majority in the Arab League and Shias constituting the majority in Iran. Since Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979, the country's Shia theocracy has attempted to assert itself as the legitimate religious and political leadership of all Muslims, contesting a status that has generally been understood as belonging to Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia, where the cities of Mecca and Medina are located. This animosity, manifested in the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict, has greatly exacerbated the Shia–Sunni divide throughout the Muslim world.
Iranian–Italian relations are the diplomatic relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Italian Republic.
Iran and Pakistan established relations on 14 August 1947, the day of the independence of Pakistan, when Iran became the first country to recognize Pakistan. Both sides continue to cooperate economically where possible and have formed alliances in a number of areas of mutual interest, such as fighting the drug trade along their border and combating the insurgency in the Balochistan region.
Iran–Turkey relations are the bilateral relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Turkey. The two states' relationship is complex and characterized by periods of both tension and cooperation, as both Iran and Turkey are fighting for influence in the Middle East through supporting opposing proxies as part of a proxy conflict. The two countries are also major trade partners and are perceived as mutually interdependent due to geographical proximity as well as historically shared cultural, linguistic, and ethnic traits.
Iran–North Korea relations are described as being positive by official news agencies of the two countries. Diplomatic relations improved following the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and the establishment of an Islamic Republic. Iran and North Korea pledge cooperation in educational, scientific, and cultural spheres. Some media reports claim this cooperation extends to nuclear cooperation, though official U.S. government publications and academic studies have disputed this. The United States has been greatly concerned by North Korea's arms deals with Iran, which started during the 1980s with North Korea acting as a third party in arms deals between the Communist bloc and Iran, as well as selling domestically produced weapons to Iran, and North Korea continues selling missiles to Iran. North Korea and Iran are the remaining two members of George W. Bush's "Axis of evil", which has led to many of the concerns regarding Iran–North Korea relations.
Bilateral relations exist between Armenia and Iran. Despite religious and ideological differences, relations between the two states remain extensively cordial and both are strategic partners in the region. Armenia and Iran are both neighbouring countries in Western Asia and share a common land border that is 44 kilometres (27 mi) in length.
Bangladesh–Iran relations are the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Iran. Despite not having any major deals or any big kind of trade, the representatives of both nations have called for expanding economic relations between the two countries. Both are members of the OIC and the Developing 8.
Iran and Georgia have had relations for millennia, although official diplomatic relations between the two nations in the 20th century were established on May 15, 1992. Georgia is represented by its embassy in Tehran, while Iran has its representative embassy in Tbilisi.
Croatia and Iran established diplomatic relations on April 18, 1992 when Iran became the 7th world-, 1st Asian- and 1st Muslim dominated- country to recognize the newly independent Croatia. Croatia has an embassy in Tehran while Iran has an embassy and a cultural center in Zagreb. Relations among two countries are described as good and friendly.
Iran–Switzerland relations are foreign relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Swiss Confederation.
Iran–South Africa relations refers to the historical and current bilateral relationship of Iran and South Africa. South Africa has an embassy in Tehran. Iran has an embassy in Pretoria.
The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic recognized de facto the Islamic Republic of Iran in February 1979, and Belarus and Iran established de jure diplomatic relations in 1992. Belarus has an embassy in Tehran. Iran has an embassy in Minsk.
Brazil–Iran relations are the bilateral relations between the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Relations are characterized by economic and diplomatic cooperation and are quite friendly. Iran has a productive trade balance with Brazil. The two governments signed a document to bolster cooperation during the G-15 Summit in Tehran in 2010. However, since the election of former Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, relations between the two countries recently have deteriorated greatly, following Rousseff shifting Brazil away from Iran due to Iran's violation of human and civil rights. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's media adviser, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, was quoted as stating that Rousseff had "destroyed years of good relations" between them. He denied making such a statement.
Iran–Sweden relations are foreign relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Sweden.
Iran–Philippines relations refer to foreign relations between Iran and the Philippines. Diplomatic relations were established on January 22, 1964. There is a community of thousands of Iranians in the Philippines including many international students drawn by the country's low-cost English education.
Iran–Thailand relations refer to the bilateral relations between Iran and Thailand. Iran has an embassy in Bangkok while Thailand has an embassy in Tehran.
Iran–Qatar relations refer to the bilateral relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the State of Qatar. Iran has an embassy in Doha while Qatar has an embassy in Tehran. Qatar and Iran have close ties.
South Korea-Uzbekistan relations are the international relations between South Korea and Uzbekistan.
↑ "Foreign Investment Conference To Be held In Iran," Islamic Republic News Agency, May 27, 2009, "خطای نابهنگام". Archived from the original on 2012-06-16. Retrieved 2011-06-01. (May 27, 2009)
↑ " Iran, S.Korea confer on promoting cooperation", ISNA, 6 January 2010, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2011-06-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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