TEHRAN (Tasnim) - An Iranian lawmaker said the Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s security officials have detained 35 Iranian truck drivers some two months ago, while nearly 30 of those Iranians are still held in custody in Iraq.



Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency on Wednesday, Seyed Fathollah Hosseini, member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said those Iranian drivers have been held in detention for two months by the Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s security forces on charge of trying to cross Iraq-Iran border illegally.

He noted that 5 or 6 of the drivers have been freed so far, but the rest are still being kept in custody in connection with the alleged case.

“Those Iranian nationals were fuel tanker drivers, and legally carried the fuel from Iraq to Iran, and even their documents and certificates have been valid, and they had also valid passports,” Hosseini stressed.

The lawmaker said the Iranian drivers had been staying inside the Iraqi Kurdistan Region for nearly a month prior to their capture, adding that the poor health and welfare services in that region forced them to head towards Iran border and they wanted to cross the border individually.

“But” Hosseini added “since such a move was deemed illegal by Iraq, the drivers were arrested during their return.”

He further pointed to the Iranian officials’ efforts to pursue the fate of the fuel tanker drivers, saying the parliament expects the country’s foreign ministry to take immediate measures to secure their eventual freedom.

By Tasnim News Agency

 

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