Iran denies hijacking of Iraqi vessel

Tehran, March 23 Iran has denied reports that an Iraqi vessel was hijacked in its southern waters, official media reported.

"No foreign vessels have been hijacked in the territorial waters of Iran and any news in this regard is denied," Xinhua news agency quoted Siavash Arjmandzadeh, director general of ports and maritime of Bushehr province, as saying in the report on Monday.

The news published by some foreign media is related to an Iraqi towing vessel that has run ground on the island of Seh Dandan in the littoral waters of Bushehr because of flooding, Arjmandzadeh added.

The Iraqi vessel encountered an accident in the international waters of the Gulf on March 12, and was later grounded 12.8 km away from the Bushehr port, he said.

Arjmandzadeh added Iranian authorities will make necessary cooperation with the owner of the vessel until the technical problem is fixed and the vessel returns to the sea.

( With inputs from IANS )