The US has evacuated 22 crew members held aboard an Iranian container vessel to Pakistan and will hand them over to Iranian authorities on Monday, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said, calling the move a “confidence-building measure”.
Iranian-flagged Touska, part of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) that has been hit with sanctions by Washington, was boarded and seized by the US off the coast of Iran’s Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman last month. The US Central Command had said the ship’s crew failed to comply with repeated warnings over six hours, and the vessel was in violation of a US blockade.
Iran had condemned the incident as “unlawful and a violation” of international law, and demanded the immediate release of the vessel, its sailors, and their families. The ship will also be moved to Pakistani territorial waters for return to its owners after necessary repairs, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said on Monday. Meanwhile, American outlet ABC News reported US Central Command Spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins as saying that “US forces completed the transfer of 22 crew members of M/V Touska to Pakistan for repatriation.”
He said “six other passengers were already transferred to a regional country for repatriation last week.” According to the report, Iranian state media identified the six as family members of some of the crew.