All 18 Filipinos on Ship Siezed by Iran Released: Statement

According to a statement of the foreign ministry of this country, these 18 crew members were returned to the country in batches and the last batch of six people arrived in Manila last week.

Tehran began freeing the Filipino crew in batches at the end of January after a replacement crew was hired from Russia and other countries, Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega tells AFP.

"They were not hostages… but they were not allowed to leave without replacements,” de Vega says of the Filipino crew.

The seizure was in retaliation to the theft of Iranian oil by the US from the same tanker, at the time named the Suez Rajan.

The statement of the Philippines foreign ministry said that "the Philippines government thanks the Iranian authorities for their understanding in this regard."