The five fishing boats and the 22 member crew held by Iranian Border Guards since July 3 were released Thursday. They had trespassed into Iranian territorial waters leaving Saudi Arabia. Major General Abdulrahman Bin Ibrahim Al-Barahim, Commander of the Border Guard in the Eastern Province, said that the boats arrived at the fishing harbor in Darin. The pilots will be interrogated by Frontier Guards to determine why the boats trespassed into the territorial waters of Iran. Sources at the Command of the Border Guard in the Eastern Province affirmed that fishermen normally drift into the territorial waters of neighboring countries, including Iran, in search for fish-rich areas, thereby exposing themselves to the risk of arrest. The sources added that the border security regulation prohibits leaving the Saudi territorial waters as stipulated in the permit issued by the Border Guard and that violators are subject to sanctions which may amount in some cases to the denial of a fishing permit and payment of penalties.
