An Iranian fisherman was shot and killed on Saturday by the Saudi coast guard, which accused him of entering Saudi waters, Iran’s interior ministry said, fuelling tensions between the regional rivals.
“Two fishing boats were in the Persian Gulf and strayed due to high waves. The Saudi coast guard say the boats entered Saudi waters and killed one of the fishermen,” Iranian Ministry of the Interior official Majid Aghababaie said in a statement published by Iranian media.
He said it was not clear if the fishing boats had strayed into Saudi waters and that Iranian authorities were trying to determine the facts.
“Even if the boats had entered Saudi waters, the coast guard were not authorized to open fire,” Aghababaie added.
Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Bahram Ghassemi issued a similar statement.
Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency later quoted Aghababaie as saying one of the boats was missing.
“We have no news concerning one of the boats,” he said.
The incident comes amid increased tensions between Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and its arch rival Iran.
The tensions flared after twin attacks on June 7 on parliament and the shrine of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran in which 17 people were killed.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility.
However, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard has accused Saudi Arabia of involvement in the attacks.
Iranian Minister of Intelligence Mahmoud Alavi has also put the blame on Riyadh.
“Saudi Arabia is sponsoring terrorist groups in Iran,” he said on Thursday.
Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif also pointed the finger at Saudi Arabia during a visit to Norway last week.
“We have intelligence that Saudi Arabia is actively engaged in promoting terrorist groups operating on the eastern side of Iran in Baluchistan,” Zarif said.
The incident also comes as the Gulf faces one of its worst diplomatic crises in years.
Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia and several of its allies cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting extremist groups, including some backed by Iran.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in