“The boat – that was heading to the port of Sohar in Oman yesterday – came toward Iranian waters due to storms, bad weather conditions and technical problems,” acting governor of Jask County (south), Ali Mehrani, was quoted as saying by state broadcaster IRIB.

Broadcaster IRIB Mehrani added that the ship was transporting sugar, and sank four nautical miles off the coast of Oman in the southern province of Hormozgan.

Bad weather in recent days has affected not only southern Iran but also the Arab countries of the Gulf, in which several weather warnings have been issued. The rainy weather in Iran, which will continue till Friday, has caused floods in the southern provinces of Fars, Hormozgan, Kerman, and Sistan-Baluchistan (southeast).

Ismail Najjar, head of Iran’s Crisis Management Organization, said the death toll from the floods had risen to nine. Najjar told ISNA news agency on Wednesday that five people were killed in Fars province and two each in Kerman and Sistan-Baluchistan.

The number of people killed because of the flooding has risen to nine, the head of Iran’s Crisis Management Organization Esmail Najjar said. Five people died in Fars province, and two in each of Kerman and Sistan-Baluchistan, Najjar told ISNA news agency on Wednesday.

Local rescue services had reported eight deaths on Tuesday.