Iran, Saudi Arabia spar over oil turf

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TEHRAN, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- The Iranian government said a vessel belonging to the state-owned oil company in Saudi Arabia strayed over a "prohibited border region."

The official Islamic Republic News Agency reports that Saudi officials complained to the United Nations when Iranian navy boats intercepted a vessel belonging to the Saudi Arabian Oil Co.

Iranian Foreign Minister spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said "there must be no activity in the prohibited border region and that the Saudis took some discovery actions in the region, so, Iran forwarded a warning notice to Saudi ambassador to Tehran and insisted on Saudi commitment to the mutual agreement on border security," IRNA states.

Mehmanparast was responding to a question about a report from the Kuwait News Agency recently that stated Saudi Arabia issued a similar complaint to the United Nations regarding an Iranian helicopter hovering over the Hasba field in the Persian Gulf.

Shiite Tehran and Sunni Riyadh have squabbled over regional issues ranging from unrest in Saudi Arabia's oil-rich Eastern Province to proxy concerns in nearby Yemen.

There were no corresponding reports from Saudi state media.