Iran seizes UAE ship and crew, alleges Emirate shot up Iranian fishing boats

“On Monday, an Emirati ship was seized by the border guards of Iran and its crew were detained due to illegal traffic in our country’s waters,” state TV reported on Thursday. The statement continued: “On the same day, UAE guards shot dead two Iranian fishermen and seized a boat … the UAE has expressed regret for the incident and in a letter on Wednesday announced its readiness to pay compensation.” 

The UAE foreign ministry declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. On Monday, the Emirates news agency WAM reported that the state’s coastguards had tried to stop eight fishing boats which violated the state’s territorial waters northwest of Sir Bu Nu’Ayr island, without reporting any casualties.

Earlier this week, Iranian’ ghost ships” were reported carrying illicit shipments of oil from the sanctioned country. They turn off their GPS systems to hide their movements, endangering shipping in international waters.