Iran grateful to Azerbaijan for saving cargo ship crew

On behalf of the Iranian government, the Iranian Embassy in Azerbaijan has expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Navy and the State Border Service of Azerbaijan for the urgent and professional assistance provided to the crew of the Iranian Shabahang cargo ship that wrecked in the Caspian Sea, Trend reports.

"This humanitarian step is a symbol of cooperation, friendship and fraternity between Iran and Azerbaijan,” the Embassy said in a statement.

The Iranian Embassy expressed sincere gratitude to each participant of this difficult operation, who made efforts to prevent human casualties, and also expressed wish of further expansion of ties between the two neighboring and fraternal countries.

On July 26, the National Center of the State Maritime Agency of Azerbaijan received a distress signal at 14:15 (GMT +4) about the wreck of the Iranian Shabahang cargo ship near the port of Lankaran.

Two helicopters of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Emergency Situations and a patrol vessel "Tufan" of the State Border Service were sent to the scene of the incident.

Nine crew members of the cargo ship were rescued.