Iran's chief envoy in Vienna nuclear talks says South Korea must release Tehran's frozen funds no matter the outcome of the negotiations to restore the JCPOA.

According to the official government news website IRNA, Ali Bagheri-Kani made the remarks on Thursday as he met with Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-Kun on the sidelines of the official negotiations.

He added that "unilateral US sanctions cannot justify the non-payment of debts to Iran".

The Korean diplomat said in a tweeton Thursday, “We exchanged views on our bilateral relationship including the frozen fund. Korea and Iran will work together and preserve our historically important relationship.”

Washington says it will waive sanctions on South Korea over frozen Iranian assets only with “everything” agreed in Vienna nuclear talks.

Since introducing ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions and leaving the JCPOA in 2018, the US has imposed banking sanctions on Iran. Two South Korea banks hold $7-9 billion of Iranian money, owed for oil imports.

Iran has funds frozen not just in South Korea but in Japan, Iraq, India, and China, mainly for oil and gas deliveries. The semi-official Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported November 13 that Iran's assets frozen abroad totaled $50 billion, with $8 billion in South Korea, $3 billion in Japan, and $6 billion in Iraq.