Iran Warns South Korea in Korean Over Strait of Hormuz Deployment: "Severe Consequences"

[Anchor]

As South Korea contemplates whether to deploy troops to the Strait of Hormuz amid U.S. pressure, the Iranian government has issued a public warning. Iran cautioned that participating in military operations would mean supporting an aggressor and would lead to severe consequences—and it published this official statement entirely in Korean.

For our first news report, Washington Correspondent Lee Hanseok has the details.

[Reporter]

"Dangerous choices come with a price."

An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson posted this image containing Korean text on social media today, alongside a statement written entirely in Korean.

While stating that "Iran highly values its friendly relations with South Korea," the statement warned, "Any country participating in military operations in the Strait of Hormuz will be considered as supporting the aggressor, and this will entail severe consequences."

This use of Korean appears to be a clear move to deliver a message to Seoul not to yield to U.S. pressure.

Mohammad Marandi, a professor at the University of Tehran who has also served as an advisor for nuclear negotiations with the U.S., suggested that Iran could target South Korean assets in the Middle East.

[Mohammad Marandi / Professor, University of Tehran: Iran will consider this a hostile act and will seek to destroy all assets that South Korea holds in this region.]

Furthermore, a warning that a new control zone will be declared outside the Strait of Hormuz was issued under the name of the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

Meanwhile, the United States continues to pressure other nations to provide military support, framing it as a global economic issue regarding the transportation of Middle Eastern crude oil.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright stated that he hopes military assets from allies outside the Middle East region will arrive promptly.

[Chris Wright / U.S. Secretary of Energy: I think other countries will join this effort going forward, because global trade is an important matter.]

The White House has once again singled out South Korea.

A White House official specifically targeted South Korea, noting that it is one of the major importers of Middle Eastern crude oil, and pressed that the United States is still waiting for South Korea to commit resources to the region.

Pressure from both the United States and Iran regarding South Korea's troop deployment issue is escalating simultaneously.

(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News / Video by Park Eun-ha, Video Editing by Cho Moo-hwan)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.