Iran's Minister of Labor, Ali Rabiei, who was appointed by President Rouhani as the head of the committee to follow-up the Sanchi case, is currently in China’s crisis room to make the necessary coordination on search and rescue operations and meet up with the Chinese officials.
During the phone conversation, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani insisted that all resources should be mobilized and all necessary equipment should be provided during the rescue operation and all neighboring countries’ contribution and efforts in the current rescue operation should be coordinated, and China’s efforts should be accelerated.
The president urged the minister of labor, while providing continuous reporting on the incident, to ensure that Iranian and Chinese forces enter the tanker for relief efforts, as soon as possible.
Labor minister Rabiei, for his part, briefed the president on the rescue efforts and said he, on behalf of the Iranian government, has asked the Chinese authorities to use all their resources to rescue Iranian oil tanker crew and they have promised to increase their efforts.
The Panama-registered Iranian oil tanker, Sanchi, with 32 crew members on board, caught on fire after colliding with a Hong Kong cargo ship on Jan. 6, 160 nautical miles (296 km) from China’s east coast.
The Sanchi was carrying 136,000 tons of condensate, worth some $60 million, and bound for the Republic of Korea.
KI/4198619
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