Azerbaijan, Baku Aug. 28 / Trend, N. Umid /
The Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned Indian ambassador to Tehran D.P. Srivastava, IRIB reported.
According to the report, Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Oceania Abbas Araghchi has expressed Iran's deep concern over the continuing 1.5-year detention of an Iranian ship in India, saying that the seizure is completely baseless.
He said that, crew of the ship has not been permitted to exit the ship at all during the last 9 months.
It should be recalled that India on Tuesday registered a strong protest with Iran for having detained an Indian ship earlier this month, as foreign secretary Sujatha Singh summoned Iranian ambassador Gholamreza Ansari.
An Indian crude oil tanker named Desh Shanti, which was on its way to India from Iraq, was detained by Iran a few days ago.
The ship, which is owned by the Shipping Corporation of India, was reported by the Marine Emergency Mutual Aid Centre (MEMAC).
The head of Sea Pollution Department of the Iranian Environmental Protection Organization, Nima Pourang said that the tanker discharged its oily ballast water 30 miles away from Lavan island in the Persian Gulf, which caused a 10-mile long oil stain in the sea."
Sources said Iran claimed to have detained the ship over environmental concerns. Tehran authorities conveyed to India that the ship was polluting Iranian waters.