Iran agrees to free crew members of seized South Korean tanker, captain to remain in custody

Iran has agreed to allow sailors of a South Korean vessel it seized last month to leave the country on humanitarian grounds.

The announcement was made by Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh to state media on Tuesday.

“Following a request by the South Korean Government … the crew of the Korean ship, which was detained on charges of causing environmental pollution in the Persian Gulf, have received the permission to leave…