Pakistan rejects reports of attack on Iranian ship with Pak crew

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has rejected reports regarding occurrence of an attack on an Iranian cargo ship, with Pakistani crew aboard being hit by a rocket off the Yemen coast. 

Last week the Pakistani media reported that Iran’s cargo ship named ‘MV-Jouya-8’ had been hit by a rocket off the Yemen coast. The report added that seven Pakistanis were killed while only one survived during the attack. 

“Our diplomatic missions concerned made efforts to verify the news but the occurrence of the incident could not be established,” foreign ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria said at a weekly news briefing on Thursday. 

He said, “We also approached the Yemeni embassy here but they also could not confirm it. We noted that there had been no official or unofficial statement from Iran as well. We heard that the gentleman who initially broke the news also later said the news could not be confirmed. Efforts are still on to verify the report.”

To an IRNA question on recent Moscow trilateral talks between Russia, Pakistan and China on Afghanistan, the spokesman said, “I have no idea that when and where the next round of the meeting of trilateral forum between Russia, China and Pakistan will take place. 

“It is a process which is ongoing and this consultation will continue. The forum has also welcomed Afghanistan to join talks,” he added.  He further said that the meeting hosted by Russia in Moscow is continuation of the existing trilateral mechanism on Afghanistan. 

He said the trilateral forum is aimed at holding discussions on peace and instability in the region and the situation of Afghanistan. There are some reports that Russia has supported Iran to join the next rounds of the meetings on Afghanistan. To another question, the spokesman said Pakistan wants to see amicable resolution of the Palestine issue. “We have extended support to Palestinian cause in the past and we will continue with that policy,” Zakaria stressed.