Iran today released 15 Tamil Nadu fishermen who had strayed into the central Asian nation’s waters, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said. “I am happy to inform that Iran has released our 15 fishermen from Tamil Nadu. They were detained with their 3 Bahraini boats,” Swaraj said in a tweet. The 15 fishermen working in Bahrain were held on October 22 last year. Last month, DMK MP Tiruchi Siva had raised in Rajya Sabha the issue of Tamil Nadu fishermen languishing in Iranian prisons. “About 37 of them are currently in the custody of the Iranian government, for straying into the country’s waters. Five of them were working in Saudi Arabia, 15 in Bahrain, and the remaining in Dubai,” Siva said. “After spending a few days in jail, they were all shifted to boats in two ports, Kish Island and Bandar Abbas, where they remain under strict surveillance of the authorities with little food or water,” he said. Siva said the Indian Embassy in Bahrain and the employers had intervened, and had reportedly paid Rs 10 lakh per boat to release them.
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