UAE and Iran free detained crews

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 002209 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP AND NEA/NGA E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/03/2014 TAGS: PREL MOPS IR TC SUBJECT: UAE and Iran free detained crews Ref: (A) Abu Dhabi 1987, (B) Abu Dhabi 1881 Classified by Richard A. Albright, Charge d'Affaires, a.i., reasons 1. 5 (B) and (D). ¶1. (U) The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on July 1 announcing that the UAEG had released the Iranian crew and their fishing boat that had been seized on June 2 (see ref B). UAE authorities determined that the crew had entered UAE territorial waters unintentionally, according to the official statement. Meanwhile, a June 30 IRNA report cites Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi as saying that Iran had freed Emirati crews and their fishing boats seized June 13 in Iranian waters. While neither announcement specified exact dates of release, Asefi said that Iran acted following a similar move by the UAE to release Iranian sailors held on the same charges. Iranian officials "have taken Iran's good relations with the UAE into consideration and have released all the Emirati sailors and their boats," he said. ¶2. (U) The UAEG statement published in the Arabic daily Al-Ittihad said, "The UAE gives importance to the good relations with its neighbor, the Islamic Republic of Iran. Because of that, the UAE initiated the release of all arrested Iranian crew members and boats after preliminary investigations with the ship's captain and crew, which determined that the crew had entered UAE territorial waters unintentionally." ¶3. (C) Comment: As we noted in ref A, such boat seizures are commonplace at this time of year and we have no evidence that these actions are politically motivated. ALBRIGHT