Saudi Arabia frees 3 Iranian fishermen detained last year – Tehran

Saudi Arabia has freed three Iranian fishermen detained by the kingdom’s coastguard last year, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported an Iranian official as saying on Tuesday. The three fishermen were arrested in June 2017 after their boat drifted into Saudi waters, said Ardeshir Yarahmadi, the head of the fisheries department of Iran’s Bushehr province. They had been freed this week after “negotiations between Foreign Ministry officials of both countries,” Yarahmadi said, without giving the date of their release. In February, Saudi Arabia freed nine Iranian fishermen detained for two years, accusing them of entering its waters, Reuters said. Saudi Arabia broke all ties with Iran in 2016.