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India denies report of Iran seeking release of 3 tankers
The Indian government on Monday denied a report that Iran had sought the release of three oil tankers seized by authorities in February .
The Indian government on Monday denied a report that Iran had sought the release of three oil tankers seized by authorities in February as part of negotiations on the safe passage of Indian-flagged vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, said an official aware of the matter.
“This report is baseless,” the official said regarding the report by Reuters.
“There has been no discussion of this nature between Indian and Iranian authorities,” the official added.
The official also pointed out that the three vessels, which were intercepted some 100 nautical miles west of Mumbai following the detection of suspicious activity within India’s exclusive economic zone, are not “Iranian-owned”.
At the time of their seizure during an operation by India’s Coast Guard, authorities had alleged that the vessels — Stellar Ruby, Asphalt Star and Al Jafzia — had concealed or altered their identities and were involved in illegal ship-to-ship transfers at sea. The vessels are currently docked off Mumbai.
Iran allowed two Indian-flagged LPG tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday and one of them arrived at a port on the western coast on Monday. External affairs minister S Jaishankar said in an interview with Financial Times that talks with Iran on safe passage for Indian vessels through the crucial waterway were “ongoing” and “yielding results”.
Jaishankar also said India and Iran have a “history of dealing with each other” and denied that Tehran received anything in exchange for allowing the two Indian vessels to cross the strait.
