ABU DHABI, 2 July 2004 — The United Arab Emirates said yesterday it had released a group of Iranian fishermen who had strayed into territorial waters, after Tehran freed some UAE fishermen arrested for the same reason.
“The Emirates took the initiative to free all the crew members and their fishing boat ... Preliminary investigations showed the ship’s entry into Emirati territorial waters in the Gulf was not intentional,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman was cited as saying by the state news agency WAM.
The Iranian crew, arrested on June 5, was released out of the UAE’s “concern to maintain its good relations with the neighboring Islamic Republic of Iran,” he added.
On June 21, a Dubai court ordered the Iranians to be released after they promised to keep out of Emirati waters.
Tehran also released a group of UAE fishermen alleged to have strayed into its waters last month, the country’s Foreign Ministry said earlier yesterday.
Last month, Iran detained some seven fishing boats and 28 crew from the UAE, in an apparent response for the UAE’s detention of the Iranian crew.
Iran has regular disputes with the UAE over the Iranian-held islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs, which are situated roughly halfway between Iran and the UAE.
The UAE claims ownership of the islands, controlled by Iran since British forces withdrew from the Gulf in 1971.
