UAE arrests crew of Iran boat in its Gulf waters

The United Arab Emirates has arrested the crew of an Iranian fishing boat which entered UAE waters in the Gulf, the UAE news agency WAM said yesterday.

"The coastguard confronted an Iranian fishing boat inside UAE waters last Wednesday... The crew was detained and handed over to UAE judicial authorities," a coastguard source was quoted as saying by the official agency.

Political relations between the two oil-rich countries, which face each other across the Gulf, have been strained.

Iran disputes the three islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb with the UAE. Iranian officials said in April that Iran had sealed a deal to export gas to the UAE.