The Iranian authorities reported this Friday the release of ten fishermen of this nationality who were being held in the United Arab Emirates, after having disappeared for several weeks along with three other companions in waters near Bandar Lengeh, a port city located on the coast of the Persian Gulf.
The Iranian Consulate in Dubai has confirmed the release of these ten Iranian citizens, who have left the Emirati locality heading to Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran on a flight operated by Sepehran Airlines, as reported by the news agency IRNA.
For the moment, the authorities have not provided information about the situation of the other three missing fishermen, whose whereabouts remain unknown.
Tehran confirmed in mid-July the return to the country of another 55 sailors who had been arrested by the Emirati Coast Guard between late February and April due to an alleged "failure in tracking systems."
The Iranian diplomatic mission explained then that these fishermen were arrested in the early stages of the war between Iran and the United States and Israel, after they accidentally crossed into the territorial waters of the United Arab Emirates amid the confusion generated by the conflict in the region.
Tensions between both countries have persisted since then and, in fact, last August the Emirati authorities indefinitely suspended all their commercial relations, trade exchanges, and financial transactions with Iran, after detecting the launch of Iranian ballistic missiles towards their territory.