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Iran to put seized British boats on display: report
Iran said today it planned to put on display three British naval boats it seized last year, but Britain denounced the move and said talks were continuing for the vessels to be returned.Iran's state television said the boats would be displayed on the shores of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which divides south-western Iran from Iraq, during Iran's New Year holidays which begin on March 21. "This is not a constructive way to resolve this dispute," a British Foreign Office spokesman said in London, adding that talks were continuing to get the boats back. The families of Iranians killed in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war often visit the worst-affected border regions during the New Year holidays to pay their respects to the dead. Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized the three British patrol boasts, which were being delivered to Iraqi police, in the Shatt al-Arab last June and arrested eight British servicemen aboard. The men were released after three days but their boats and equipment, including weapons and navigational gear, were kept. Tehran says the boats had strayed into Iranian waters. Britain says they were intercepted in Iraqi waters and forced over to the Iranian border. Posted by: tipper 2005-03-11 |
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