New Delhi, Feb. 12 -- India has secured consular access to 16 Indian sailors detained in Iran, with eight of them released, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday.

Responding to a media query during the weekly briefing regarding reports of Indian sailors being under arrest in Iran and concerns over delayed consular access, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal clarified that access had been granted.

"Consular access has been obtained. We have been able to go and meet all those individuals. Out of the sixteen people, eight have been released," Jaiswal said.

He added that the process to bring back the eight released sailors to India was underway. "I cannot say this with complete certainty, but my understanding--and what I was...