Nineteen Romanian workers from the Orizont oil rig in the Persian Gulf, which was the subject of a Romania-Iran dispute in August, returned home at the end of their 28-day mission on Sunday. The owner of the platform, Romanian company Grup Servicii Petroliere - GSP, must send another team to operate the rig, according to its contract with the Iranian part.
On August 22, the Orizont rig, 26 people on board - 19 Romanians and 7 Indians - came under Iranian Navy fire. Iranian troops occupied the complex and cut all communication links with the exterior while retaining all the workers under armed supervision.
Romania and Iran eventually established it was just a trade dispute between two private firms that led to the incident. President Traian Basescu discussed it with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who assured him that the events on the Orizont rig were not a hostile act towards Romania.
The platform operates in the Persian Gulf since October 2005, drilling oil on Iranian accounts.
