On January 4, Iran's Revolutionary Guards near the strategic Strait of Hormuz captured the South Korean-flagged Hankuk Chemi.

“Following a request by the South Korean government... the crew of the Korean ship, which was detained on charges of causing environmental pollution in the Persian Gulf, have received the permission to leave the country in a humanitarian move by Iran,” said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh.

Iran, which urged South Korea to release some $7 billion of frozen Iranian funds due to U.S. sanctions, denied claims that the capture of the chemical tanker and its 20 crew members led to hostage-taking, and said that the Iranian funds were kept hostage by Seoul.

Maritime Business World