Saudi Arabia Releases Two Iranian Fishermen

The public relations manager of Bushehr Fisheries announced that two fishermen residing on Kharg Island, who were arrested last year by the Saudi Coast Guard, were released on Friday, May 28. According to the IRNA news agency, Ardshir Yarahmadi stated that the fishermen's boat entered Saudi territorial waters due to tidal conditions on November 6, 2017, leading to their arrest. He reported that these fishermen were freed after serving their sentence and 'based on negotiations between the foreign ministries' of both countries, and they entered the waters of Kharg Island on Friday morning. Iranian media had previously identified the two fishermen as Mohammad Akbari and Mehrzad Nasibzadeh. According to Mr. Yarahmadi, under the law, fishermen who are arrested for mistakenly entering Saudi waters must be 'detained for a period' in that country. Reports of fishing vessels crossing maritime borders leading to the detention of these vessels and their crews have been frequently reported in Iranian media and other Gulf countries in recent years. In addition to Saudi Arabia, Kuwaiti and Qatari officials have also occasionally reported the detention of Iranian vessels and their crews. For instance, according to Iranian officials, in June of last year, after Saudi officials fired upon three Iranian fishing boats, one fisherman was killed and three others were detained. However, the Saudi Ministry of Interior provided a different account of this event, stating that the detainees were 'members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' and were approaching the country's Marjan oil platforms aboard 'a weapon-carrying boat.' Iranian officials have denied this claim. Following this incident, fishing activities in Bushehr province were halted for a period. No new reports have been published regarding the status of these fishermen. A month later, a Saudi fishing vessel was stopped by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy for entering Iranian waters. At that time, it was reported that this fishing vessel had four crew members, all of whom were detained by the Revolutionary Guard Navy. Two weeks later, Iranian media reported the detention of another fishing vessel and the arrest of five of its crew near Farsi Island. In both incidents, the detainees were identified as Indian nationals, and Iran stated that decisions regarding them would be made based on 'reciprocal treatment' by Saudi Arabia towards the detained Iranian sailors. Recently, no reports have been published regarding the release or continued detention of these fishermen.