Zarif issued a message of condolence where he said that the death of the crew members was no less than martyrdom and called them diligent, anonymous children of Iran who underwent lots of hardships through years and sacrificed their lives to fulfill their duties.
“All the Iranian authorities, my colleagues in the Foreign Ministry and Iranian representatives in the region did their best to save the lives of those brave men. Unfortunately, however, a tragic fate awaited them and now we have to mourn their loss,” Zarif says in his message.
Offering his condolences on the death of the Iranian sailors, Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif vowed that the Foreign Ministry will pursue the case in order to find out the reasons that led to this tragic incident and assert the rights of the people of Iran and the families of the deceased.
A Panama-registered Iranian oil tanker, Sanchi, caught fire after colliding with a Hong Kong freighter off China’s coast, leaving its 32 crew members disposed to fire. After the rescue operations failed to save the lives of the sailors on board or extinguish the fire, the tanker sank completely.
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