Iranians are criticizing the South Korean embassy in Tehran for donating 2,000 Covid masks to a hospital while Seoul keeps $7 billion of Iran’s frozen funds.

Ambassador Yun Kang-hyeon visited a private hospital in Tehran on Sunday and donated Covid masks, in what conservative media in Iran and several prominent citizens criticized as an insensitive act.

Some media outlets called the ambassador’s donation a “humiliating act” as Seoul has refused to release $7 billion of Iran’s money frozen by two of its banks, since the US imposed banking sanctions on Iran in 2018.

The embassy tweeted pictures of the ambassador’s visit to the hospital showing a few cartons of masks. This led to negative reactions, with Alef conservative website not only criticizing the embassy but also attacking the private hospital for accepting the gift.

“Is anyone in this hospital reading newspapers or following the news to know what South Korea has done to us during sanctions?”, the newspaper asked.

Iran foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh also reacted to the news on Monday calling the donation “a joke”.