MANAMA, March 4 — A Bahraini registered dhow ( traditional boat) was attacked by four armed men in Iran’s territorial waters on Monday.

The Interior Ministry said the incident happened 60 nautical miles north of Bahrain, adding that the “dhow was dragged to the Iranian waters.”

The sailors were kidnapped by four armed men but later released. There was no confirmation of injuries by the Bahraini ministry.

Bahraini officials said the sailors of the dhow claimed the armed pirates spoke in “Iranian accent.”

Last month, Bahraini police foiled an Iranian-backed terror plot which targets military and civil establishment as well as public figures.

Bahrain’s Public Security Chief Major General Tariq Al Hassan said that an Iranian man, codenamed “Abu Nasser,” provided 80,000 U.S. dollars to a terror cell named “Army of Imam.”

Five people suspected of being members of the terror cell were arrested in Bahrain; three were arrested in Oman and four others were on the run, Hassan said.

According to initial investigations, the arrested people had been recruited by two Bahrainis based in Iran, and had been trained to use firearms and high explosives, as well as to collect intelligence.