Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have detained a Saudi Arabian fishing boat and arrested its crew, an Iranian state news agency reported on Saturday, at a time of increased diplomatic tension between the two regional powers.

Five Indian nationals on the vessel were detained on Friday after they crossed into Iranian territorial waters in the Gulf, Ardeshir Yarahmadi, a spokesman for the fisheries department of Bushehr province, was quoted as saying by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

Yarahmadi said it was the second time in the past month that a Saudi boat and its crew had been detained.

Iran has urged Saudi Arabia to release the trio, who Tehran said had legal documents but lost their way.

The Saudi Information Ministry said it had intercepted the boat in Saudi waters on June 16 and that three members of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards had been detained in the incident.

It said the seized vessel was carrying explosives and those captured intended to conduct a “terrorist act” in Saudi territorial waters. Iran has denied the allegation.

Source » independent