Iran has reiterated its denial that the seizure of the chemical tanker Hankuk Chemi and its 20-member crew amounted to hostage-taking.
The vessel's seizure on 4 January, just days before the high-level diplomatic negotiations over $7bn in oil money held in South Korean banks, is still being suggested as purely coincidental.
Iran's deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi told his South Korean counterpart Choi Jong-Kun that Seoul "should refrain from politicising the issue and fruitless propaganda and allow the legal proceedings to proceed", Iran's state media...
