Press TV - Saudi Arabia has freed two Iranian fishermen detained by the kingdom's coast guards last year, the head of the fisheries department of Iran's Bushehr province says.
Two fishermen from the provinces Kharg Island, who had been arrested by the Saudi coast guards were released Friday after nine months, IRNA quotedArdeshir Yarahmadi as saying.
The release came after consultations between the two countries foreign ministries, he saidwithout elaboration.
Tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia hasrun high in recent years and diplomatic contacts between the two countries have become very rare.
Yarahmadi saidthe fishermen had been detained after their boats drifted into the Saudi waters in a stormy weather, during which they came under live fire.
In February, Saudi Arabia freed nine Iranian fishermen detained two years ago, but a tenth fisherman was killed in the initial incident.
The Saudi coast guards shot the boats owner and took his body into a morgue in the kingdom, according to the victim's brother.
Iran hassaid such innocent trespassingby civilian boats is commonand has occurred many times by foreign boats in Iranianterritorial waters, urging Saudi authorities not to treat them as hostile acts.
Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia worsened after a deadly human crush occurred during Hajj rituals in Mina, near Mecca in September 2015.
Tehran saidthe incompetence of Saudi officials was to blame for the incident which left4,700 people dead, including 465 Iranians, according to the country's officials.
Ties deteriorated further when Riyadh executed prominent Saudi Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in January 2016.
Saudi Arabia unilaterally severed its diplomatic ties with Iran after protests in front of its diplomatic premises in the cities of Tehran and Mashhad against Nimrs execution.
