Manama: Five Kuwaitis, one Qatari and one Egyptian released by Iran have been handed over to Kuwaiti authorities, a Kuwaiti diplomat has said.
“The Iranians have been outstandingly cooperative, which resulted in the release of the Kuwaitis and their Egyptian and Qatari companions,” Majdi Al Dhafiri, Kuwait’s ambassador in Iran, said.
“They were well treated by the Iranian authorities and I was in Abadan this morning to follow up with their departure from the city. The governor was very helpful in easing all obstacles to their return home, and he has obviously acted based on his deep belief in the special relations between our two countries,” the envoy said.
Relatives of the men said they were on a fishing trip when they were arrested for allegedly entering Iranian waters illegally.
Some Kuwaiti officials ruled out that the seven men could have been in “the distant Iranian waters”.
But Ali Jannati, Iran’s ambassador to Kuwait, said it was “unacceptable to say that the Kuwaitis, the Qatari and the Egyptian have lost their way as they were found deep in Iran’s territorial waters”.
“There are some suspicions in this issue because if they just cross the maritime boundary, it can be said that they strayed. However, they were held in the Bahmanshir River, near the city of Abadan, which flows into the Gulf,” Jannati told Al Rai daily.
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