ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s envoy to Iran said on Tuesday the country was working to repatriate 15 Pakistani sailors from Iran’s Bandar Abbas port, as regional tensions escalate due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. 

Ambassador Muhammad Mudassir Tipu said the Pakistani mission was in contact with the crew, their families and their parent company in Pakistan after a video circulating online showed a seafarer appealing for assistance.

“We are in contact with our sailors (15 in number) who are on a ship in Bandar Abbas,” Tipu wrote on X. “We are in contact with their families as well as their parent company in Pakistan. We are making every possible effort for their repatriation to Pakistan. It will hopefully be done by today or at most tomorrow.”

In a video shared earlier in the day, a man identifying himself as Mujtaba Ali from Mardan said he was working on a merchant navy vessel docked in the key port city of Bandar Abbas and that the crew had been advised to move to a safer location.

Pakistan has urged de-escalation in the region and has previously advised its nationals to remain in contact with diplomatic missions during periods of instability.
The ambassador did not specify the mechanism for the sailors’ evacuation but said efforts were underway to secure their safe return home.