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Seized British Royal Marines and Sailors Transferred To Tehran
The 15 captured British naval personnel were today reported to have been moved to Teheran as Iran raised the stakes in the escalating diplomatic crisis.The sailors and marines would be asked to explain their aggressive action in entering Iranian waters, the Iranian Fars news agency reported. British commanders have insisted that their forces were in Iraqi waters in the Shatt al-Arab waterway south of Basra when they were surrounded by Iranian gunboats yesterday. The border between Iran and Iraq runs along the waterway and the Iranians say that British had crossed onto their side, a claim supported by Brigadier General Hakim Jassim, the Iraqi military commander of the country's territorial waters. "We were informed by Iraqi fishermen after they had returned from sea that there were British gunboats in an area that is out of Iraqi control," he said. A British diplomat in Teheran denied the charge: "We still maintain they were in Iraqi waters when they were picked up." Britain has demanded the immediate release of its forces and is expected to receive the backing of the European Union later today. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Berlin had obtained official confirmation that the troops were under arrest for an alleged border violation. The Iranian foreign ministry said there could be no excuses for entering Iranian territory. The IRNA news agency said the ministry had accused British forces of illegal and interfering entry into Iranian waters. That was a suspicious act and against international laws and rules, the agency added. It quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini as saying: "Violating the territory of other countries and non-permitted entrance ... show unusual aims and is against international treaties and there are no excuses for ignoring and not accepting the responsibility for that." Britain said two boatloads of Royal Navy sailors and marines had searched a merchant vessel on a UN approved mission in Iraqi waters when Iranian gunboats encircled and captured them. Families and colleagues of the 15 captured personnel waiting anxiously for news. The 15 - 14 men and one woman - were all stationed aboard the British warship HMS Cornwall, which is the base for coalition maritime security patrols in the northern Gulf area. A BBC reporter on board ship said there was a "high level of anxiety" among the crew over the fate of their colleagues. Posted by: mrp 2007-03-24 |
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