TEHRAN - India has released 15 Iranian sailors who were detained some 1.5 years ago by authorities after sailing into Indian territorial waters.

The sailors, native to the southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province bordering the Gulf of Oman, were arrested by the coast guards of India after their launch broke down and entered the Indian waters, IRNA quoted Hamidreza Toosi, an Iranian foreign ministry official, as saying on Monday.

Over the past one and a half years, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s embassy in New Delhi and the consulate general’s office in the city of Hyderabad made many efforts for releasing the detained sailors and held numerous meetings with the Indian government and judiciary officials in this regard, he explained.

MG