Qatar releases eight Iranian sailors imprisoned for entering its territorial waters

Published: 17 July 2024

NT Bureau

DOHA: Iran’s Deputy Justice Minister for International Affairs Askar Jalalian has announced the release of eight Iranian sailors from Qatari prisons.

Jalalian made the announcement on Thursday, saying that the sailors have already been transferred to Iran and arrived in Shiraz’s airport in south of the country.

He said that they are the third group of the Iranian sailors who have been released and transferred to Iran this year as a result of coordination made by the Ministry of Justice and the Iranian embassy in Doha.

The official said that the Iranian sailors are mainly residents of the southern provinces of Bushehr, Hormozgan and Khuzestan, who entered the territorial waters of neighbouring countries due to a lack of information or because their vessels are caught in storms.

In April last year, Qatar released 17 Iranians who were detained for unintentionally entering Qatari seas.