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Iranian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday summoned Qatari Ambassador to Tehran to protest a naval attack on its boat, the official IRNA News Agency reported.
During an interview with the summoned Qatari Ambassador Saleh Ibrahim al-Kuwari, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Ali Hadi voiced strong protest against the Qatari naval attack on an Iranian boat in the Persian Gulf last Friday morning, the report said.
The attack left one Iranian killed and several others injured.
Hadi further called on Qatari side to present a clear and full explanation and to compensate for the damage inflicted on the Iranian boat and its crew, said the report.
This was the second time that the sheikhdom's ambassador was summoned for the attack.
The first took place on Sunday, when Iran strongly protested and sent a blunt warning to Qatar, saying the attack was "unacceptable, improper and outside international norms."
Iran is able and determined to defend the country's territorial integrity and its citizens' rights under any condition, Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs Ali Asghar Ahmadi said in Sunday's protest.
Ahmadi stressed that the boats were fishing in Iran's waters near the Iranian island of Lavan when they were attacked, rejecting Doha's claims that they had drifted into Qatar's maritime territory.
"Qatar's troops first talked to two captains of the boats and ordered them to leave the area, but while the boats were leaving, the troops opened fire at them under the assumption that the fishermen were fleeing," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2004)
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