Iran has released the Maersk Tigris cargo vessel seized by its patrol boats in the Strait of Hormuz last week over a business dispute, official media said Thursday.

"An informed source at the Ports and Maritime Organisation said the Maersk ship was free" to leave the country, the IRNA state news agency reported.

Iran has said it seized the container ship because of a commercial dispute with Denmark's Maersk group, which chartered the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel.