Five Emirati boats attacked by Iranian marine patrols

Some of the fishing boats in Ras Al Khaimah. -Supplied photo

Ras Al Khaimah - Some Iranian marine patrols recently attacked five Emirati boats in international waters of the Arabian Gulf claiming the latter had entered the regional waters of Iran illegally.

In the first of these, four fishermen, including an Emirati Nukhada or boat captain, were attacked by an Iranian marine patrol in the international waters, 30km off the coasts of Ras Al Khaimah.  

According to sources and Emirati fishermen, the Iranian patrol started chasing the 42-year-old Emirati fisherman and three Asian workers onboard when they tried to escape 40km off the UAE coasts.

“Two marine patrols finally surrounded the boat, took hold of it, and severely thrashed the fishermen, including the owner of the fishing boat, on Thursday afternoon around 3.30pm,” they said.

The Emirati fishermen, identified as Y.N., started his fishing journey from the Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) old port until he reached 40km off the coast of the emirate.

 “All of a sudden some Iranian marine patrols sailed in their direction, and thus Y.N. and the fishermen onboard left their location quickly to avoid any hassle with the patrols,” sources said.

However, the Iranian patrols chased the Emirati fishing boat for 30km off the RAK coasts and surrounded the boat, they said. “The fishermen then surrendered to the Iranian patrols.”

“The Iranian patrols were planning to take hold of the Emirati boat as an evidence to sue the four detained men for allegedly trespassing the Iranian regional waters, but luckily the boat broke down, and they released the fishermen, and left them onboard the non-operating boat,” sources said.

The Emirati fisherman and the other men onboard were lucky as their boat broke down 40km off the Iranian borders, some fishermen said.

The four fishermen later managed to fix the technical glitch in their boat, and headed safely to the hospital for treatment and medical care after they sustained several injuries due to the attack, but they left the hospital on the same day.

Khalifa Al Muhairi, chairman of the RAK Fishermen Cooperative Society, said they informed the bodies concerned about the assault to take legal action and protect the rights and properties of Emirati fishermen.

“Another 40-year-old Emirati fisherman, identified as S.A., was also chased by some Iranian marine patrols in the international waters, but he managed to escape with the Asian fishermen onboard.”

 Three Emirati motorboats were also stopped and harassed by an Iranian marine patrol in the international waters for no clear reason. “Two Emirati Nukhadas were on board two of the boats, while the third one had an Emirati man onboard who was taking a leisure trip at sea. They were all forced to return to the UAE regional waters.”

Previous incidents of attack

The Iranian authorities has earlier stopped several Emirati boats on alleged charges of trespassing Iranian territorial waters. Detainees usually remain in custody for up to 60 days, before being fined between Dh25,000 and Dh150,000.

Late in October 2014, eight Emirati fishermen were held captive on boats in Iran for allegedly intruding into the latter’s territorial waters and fishing (in Kish Island). The 16 tonnes of fish caught in a 10-day fishing trip, was confiscated as well.

Few days back, Iranian naval vessels fired what appeared to be warning shots over a Singapore-flagged ship in international waters in the Gulf, prompting it to flee to United Arab Emirates port.

The UAE sent Coast Guard vessels towards the Alpine Eternity, a 29,130 tonnes oil products tanker once it reached UAE waters and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy ships turned away.

ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com