Nine Iranian sailors have been released from Sri Lanka’s prisons in a humanitarian move agreed upon by the two countries’ foreign ministers, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The sailors, who came from the south-eastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan of Iran, have been handed over to Iran’s embassy in Colombo and are expected to be repatriated to Iran in the coming days, it said.
Their release follows consultations between Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Sri Lankan counterpart Ali Sabry in Tehran last week, it noted.
The statement added that another two Iranians imprisoned in Sri Lanka are expected to be repatriated in the coming days based on a convict extradition agreement signed in 2017.
Amir-Abdollahian and Sabry reached a consensus last week to release detainees from both countries in accordance with previous agreements and in a humanitarian approach. The two senior diplomats also agreed to activate a joint consular committee, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
Source: Xinhua
-Agencies
