TEHRAN – Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in a phone conversation on Saturday discussed the ongoing efforts to find the Iranian crew after their oil tanker collided with a Chinese freighter in the East China Sea on January 6 and caught fire.

Zarif urged the Chinese government to follow up on the recent tragic incident.

Wang expressed his deep sorrow over the accident, saying, “Chinese relief and rescue forces will make their utmost efforts to tame the fire.” 

The ship, run by Iran's top oil shipping operator National Iranian Tanker Co, was carrying 136,000 tons of condensate, an ultra-light crude that is highly flammable, to South Korea.

MH/PA