UAE pays blood money for slain Iranian fishermen

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN (AA) - The UAE has paid Iran 600,000 dirham ($163,345) as blood money for two Iranian fishermen killed in mid-August, an incident that marked a new low in Tehran-Abu Dhabi relations.

Officials at Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday confirmed that the money has been received, and will be given to the families of the victims.

Iran’s diplomatic mission in Abu Dhabi pursued the matter with Emirati officials, calling for corrective action and compensation.

Officials claimed that Emirati coastguards had opened fire at Iranian fishermen in the Persian Gulf, killing two of them.

They argued that the coastguards also detained the fishers, and seized one of their vessels near Sir Bu Nair island.

Following the incident, the UAE envoy in Tehran was summoned by the Foreign Ministry, and a protest lodged.

In a retaliatory move, Iran also seized a UAE ship and detained its crew, accusing them of entering Iranian waters illegally.

The incident came weeks after a normalization deal between the UAE and Israel, which was slammed by Iran and marked the beginning of a new phase of tensions between the two sides.

Since then, Iranian political and military officials have repeatedly issued statements, warning Abu Dhabi against “bringing Israel to the region."

The two countries had shown a desire to improve bilateral ties in the last few years following decades of estrangement. The recent developments, however, have seemingly ended the possibility of rapprochement.