Probe Launched Into Fisherman’s Death

The Foreign Ministry has begun an investigation into the killing of an Iranian fisherman by the Saudi coastguard in the Persian Gulf. In comments on Sunday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi expressed regret at the killing of an Iranian fisherman from the southern city of Bushehr by Saudi forces. “We are seriously pursuing the bitter incident,” he noted, Tasnim News Agency reported.  Qasemi said the Foreign Ministry is waiting for the preliminary reports on the incident. On Saturday evening, Majid Aqababaee, director of border affairs at the Interior Ministry, said Saudi Arabia’s coastguard opened fire on two Iranian fishing boats in the Persian Gulf waters, killing one fisherman. According to the official, their boats were blown off course by the waves. The Saudi border guards began to shoot at the boats without verifying whether the vessels had crossed the Saudi border, he said, adding that a fisherman was killed after being shot in the back. Aqababaee deplored the attack as being against the “humanitarian principles”, saying the Saudi forces should not have fired at the boats even if the vessels had accidentally crossed into their waters.