The deputy political head of Islamic Republic’s Revolutionary Guard Corps rejected on Tuesday Saudi claims about the arrest of three of its servicemen.
General Rasool Sanai-Rad in an interview with Tasnim news agency said that this claim is a total fabrication, which has no value and is a joke.
He accused Saudi Arabia of clumsy attempts at psychological warfare.
Saudi Arabia’s intelligence ministry announced on June 19 that it had arrested three Iranian Revolutionary Guards last Friday, who were attempting to attack an oil rig in the Persian Gulf, aboard heavily armed boats full of explosives. The ministry also added that the three Iranians were being interrogated.
Earlier, Iranian officials had claimed that Saudi forces had fired on two Iranian fishing boats, killing one fisherman. They claimed the boats had drifted into Saudi waters because of high waves. Other local Iranian sources claimed one boat had lost engine power and floated into Saudi waters.
On Tuesday, Iranian media was generally silent about the Saudi claim until the denial by General Sanai-Rad.
It is still not clear if the two incidents were the same or Saudi naval forces had two separate engagements.