Baloch Fishermen: No Exchange, No Money!

It has been over two years since they returned home, eight Iranian men who have been left alone in the battle against pirates across the seas. In November of this year, it was reported that out of 21 fishermen held captive by Somali pirates, five had escaped, four with the help of the Somali government and one alone. However, after that, life became difficult. Of the 16 men remaining in captivity, eight died due to what the media in Iran referred to as 'torture and hunger,' leaving eight men still imprisoned. Now, more than two years after their captivity, none have returned home. The remaining men in captivity sent another video home in recent days. In the video, they say they have resorted to eating grass to survive, stating that they receive one meal every two weeks and have written to the Iranian government and the world asking for help. In the video, they hold papers indicating that it was recorded on January 23. Shir Mohammad, one of the fishermen, said in Baluchi: 'For God's sake, understand our dire situation. We are so weak that we have no strength to walk or sit. I can now say that our physical condition is worse than that of a 70-year-old man.' The recent video that reached Iran indicates a change in circumstances; the pirates who only have eight men in captivity no longer hope to receive the $200,000 they had previously demanded. According to the newspaper Shargh on Saturday, January 16, Shir Mohammad stated that the pirates only want four of their men who are imprisoned in Zahedan. Shir Mohammad said: 'They say if Iran exchanges us with them, they will no longer want money. Help us. God willing, with your efforts, we will return to our homeland.' According to Shargh, when Ibrahim, Nour Mohammad, Pirbakhsh, and Nadim escaped, they brought four Somalis with them to Iran, and now the pirates want those four, who, according to former Chabahar and Konarak representative Yaqub Jadgal, the government has not reached an agreement with the pirates regarding their exchange, and now 'the Islamic Republic can only do one thing in this regard, which is to arrest other pirates and exchange them with the Iranian fishermen.' Somalia is one of the countries that cut diplomatic relations with Iran last year after the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and recalled its ambassador from Tehran. Previously, Hassan Qashqavi, the consular deputy of the Foreign Ministry, had announced that there is no possibility of a physical presence in Somalia to follow up on the matters related to the Iranian fishermen. According to Mr. Qashqavi, Iran has no embassy, consulate, or even a protectorate in this country to follow up on the issue of the kidnapped fishermen. Information dissemination is the only possible action! However, as the newspaper Qanoon reported on Tuesday, January 18, the representative of Zahedan in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, two years after the announcement of the captivity of these Iranian fishermen, is only trying to 'bring the pain that our oppressed fishermen are currently enduring to the attention of the people and officials.' Ali Yarmohammadi, the representative of Zahedan, said that since there is no stable government in Somalia, the usual diplomatic methods between the two countries yield no results. He also reported that the 'potential dangers' to other fishermen have raised concerns, and now fewer fishermen in Sistan and Baluchestan are going to sea. Hoshmatollah Fallahian, a member of the National Security Commission of the Parliament, disagrees with the representative of Zahedan. He said: 'The lack of a stable government in Somalia is not a valid reason for negligence in this matter. The naval forces of the Islamic Republic are a powerful local unit in the region, and if necessary, they should intervene to save these individuals.' He also responded to the rumor that the Islamic Republic does not pay attention to them because they are Baloch fishermen, stating that even raising this issue is a divisive action. According to the newspaper Qanoon, these are not the only fishermen who are trapped; Ali Osat Hashemi, the governor of Sistan and Baluchestan, reported that the Ministry of Interior is trying to 'compensate the losses incurred to the ship owners by allocating specific funding and also facilitate the debts of these individuals to banks as much as possible.' Mr. Osat Hashemi also mentioned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' efforts to utilize what he called 'the spiritual capacity and existing popular talents abroad' and said that the Iranian Foreign Ministry is trying to seek help from 'countries that have good relations with Somalia' to assist the fishermen's situation. The continued captivity of several Iranian fishermen comes while officials from the Iranian Navy had previously announced the presence of their ships in the Gulf of Aden to combat piracy. The Gulf of Aden is located near the African country of Somalia and the war-torn country of Yemen and has long been a hotspot for pirates. The Iranian Navy announced in August 2015 that two groups of pirates who had attacked an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden at 'various times' faced a response from the 35th naval group and left the area. Habibollah Sayyari, the commander of the Iranian Navy, has repeatedly stated in response to reports about the shipment of weapons by their ships to the Houthi Shiites in Yemen that the reason for their presence in the Gulf of Aden is to 'protect the economic interests of the Islamic Republic' against piracy.