Spokeswoman: No Official Word from UAE on Abducted Iranian
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham said Iran has not yet received an official word from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the reported arrest of three suspects in connection with the June 2013 abduction of an Iranian national.
"We, too, have heard the reports (on the arrests) from media, but have not yet received any official report from the Emirati side regarding the case," Afkham said on Wedensday evening.
Media reports had earlier suggested that three suspects have been detained in connection with the kidnapping of Abbas Yazdanpanah in the UAE.
“So, we are waiting to receive details on the case from the UAE government,” she added.
The spokeswoman also emphasized that ever since the publication of reports regarding the abduction of Yazdanpanah in June 2013, the ministry has sought to receive full information about his fate.
“We expect the UAE government to provide us with information on this Iranian national, given that he is an important figure in the Crescent file.”
Reports indicated that Yazdanpanah, born in 1969, is a British passport holder of Iranian origin and the owner of a publicly traded company.
Relatives and friends of the 44-year-old say he disappeared without a trace on June 25, when he was last seen leaving his office.
At the time of his disappearance, Yazdanpanah had allegedly been giving evidence by video link to a long-running international arbitration tribunal case at The Hague, involving the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and Crescent Petroleum, a privately owned oil and gas company with headquarters in Sharjah, Press TV reported.
In August 2010, the NIOC cancelled its contract with the Crescent Petroleum to export natural gas to the UAE over the pricing mechanism and some other technical issues.
