US transfers crew of seized Iranian ship to Pakistan

Islamabad on Monday confirmed that 22 crew members from an Iranian container ship seized by the US would be evacuated to Pakistan.

The Foreign Ministry called it a "confidence-building measure" with support from both sides. The crew would then be returned to Iran, a statement read.

The announcement pertains to the Iranian-flagged shipping vessel Touska, which was seized by US forces last month near the coast of Iran's Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman. It is part of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), which has been sanctioned by Washington.

At the time, Tehran had condemned the incident as "unlawful" and a violation of international maritime statutes. US Central Command said that the ship's crew had refused to comply with six hours of repeated warnings that it was breaching a US blockade.

Pakistan said it will return the ship to Iran after necessary repairs have been made.

Islamabad has been acting a go-between since shortly after the US began launching strikes on Iran in late February, but attempts at peace talks have so far yielded few results.

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Edited by: Roshni Majumdar