New Delhi, March 17 -- The Indian government on Monday denied a report that Iran had sought the release of three oil tankers seized by authorities in February as part of negotiations on the safe passage of Indian-flagged vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, said an official aware of the matter.

"This report is baseless," the official said regarding the report by Reuters.

"There has been no discussion of this nature between Indian and Iranian authorities," the official added.

The official also pointed out that the three vessels, which were intercepted some 100 nautical miles west of Mumbai following the detection of suspicious activity within India's exclusive economic zone, are not "Iranian-owned".

At the time of their seizure during...