Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The disagreement between Iran and India over the detention of Iran's cargo vessel is growing.

Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned Indian Ambassador to Tehran Shri D.P. Srivastava to protest against the continued detention of its cargo vessel and the mistreatment of the vessel's crew by Indian officials, Press TV reported.

In a meeting with the Indian diplomat on August 28, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Oceania Seyyed Abbas Araqchi highlighted the friendly ties between Tehran and New Delhi.

He expressed Iranian government's deep concern over the prolonged seizure of Iran's Diyanat ship in Mundra Port on the western coast of India and the mistreatment of its crew members.

He also demanded the immediate release of the merchant vessel and its crew on board.

The Iranian vessel Diyanat and its crew members have been held for unknown reasons in Mundra Port for more than one and a half years.

The ship's crew members have not been allowed to leave the vessel for the past nine months, causing them to suffer great mental and psychological strain.

Another dispute between Iran and India occurred in mid-August, when the Indian oil tanker was detained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iran detained the ship carrying crude oil from Iraq to India on Aug. 13, saying that it was polluting Iranian waters. India has denied the allegation and according to the ship's owner, state-run Shipping Corp. of India Ltd., the vessel wasn't in Iranian waters when it was detained.

In its statement on the incident, Iran's embassy in India had said the ship's detention was "purely a technical and nonpolitical issue."

According to the embassy, the tanker was detained following a warning from the Marine Emergency Mutual Aid Center, a Bahrain-based organization with a mission to fight marine pollution.

India and Iran haven't made any headway in resolving a dispute over an Indian oil tanker, which has put Tehran at odds with one of the few markets for its oil.

India is one of the few destination countries for Iran's oil as New Delhi and Tehran have worked out a system to skirt Western sanctions whereby India places rupee-denominated payments in an Indian bank to pay for oil. Funds are debited from the account when Iran purchases Indian goods that may include grains, drugs, consumer products and auto parts.