Iran said it wasn’t taking a South Korean oil tanker and its sailors as hostages, a day after its naval unit seized the vessel in the Gulf waters while demanding Seoul release billions of dollars in Iranian money frozen due to U.S. sanctions. Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps on Monday intercepted and captured the the MT Hankuk Chemi, a South Korean-flagged tanker, and detained its 20-member crew, citing “environmental and chemical pollution concerns.” The seizure came as South Korea, in accordance with sanctions reimposed by the United States in 2018 after withdrawing from the Obama-era nuclear agreement, continues a freeze on $7 billion from Iran’s oil exports in two Korean banks. Tehran has been calling on Seoul since July 2020 to release the money. The Islamic regime on Tuesday denied speculation that it is planning to exchange the captured ship for its $7 billion funds. “We’ve become used to such …