Egypt: Iran released five detained citizens

Egypt’s foreign ministry yesterday announced that it had secured the release of the five Egyptian fishermen who had been detained by Iran since December for allegedly “entering the country’s territorial waters.”

“As part of the foreign ministry’s keenness on ensuring safety and welfare for Egyptian citizens abroad, the ministry’s efforts were successful in releasing the five Egyptian sailors detained by the Iranian authorities after all legal procedures were completed,” the ministry’s spokesperson, Ahmed Hafez, said in a statement.

Read: Egyptian court annuls government right to dissolve NGOs

Hafez stressed that the five citizens were in “good condition” after their release, referring to what he described as “ministry’s keenness to ensure their safety during their [five Egyptians] detention.”

The Egyptian fishermen were arrested in December by the Iranian authorities after their Saudi-registered fishing boat was reported to have drifted into Iranian territorial waters.