Report: Iran Frees Three Emirati Fishing Boats


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said Iran has freed 3 fishing boats with all the crew on board that it had seized 2 two months ago for crossing into Iran’s territorial waters, local media reports said.

The crew, including 3 Emirati captains and 21 Asian sailors, safely returned to the UAE on Wednesday after being kept on Iranian island of Kish for nearly two months, Gulf news reported.

A UAE coast guard official told the daily that the fishing boats were seized on May 12 by Iran for illegal entry into the country’s territorial waters.

Foreign boats’ crossing into Iran’s waters is not something new in the Persian Gulf.

The Iranian coast guard has on many occasions seized and freed fishing boats from Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf littoral states after they illegally crossed into the country’s territorial waters.