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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran ’to charge British sailors’ |
| 2004-06-22 |
| Iran is to prosecute eight UK sailors detained for allegedly straying into its territory, state-run TV quotes military sources as saying. Three British naval craft and their crews were seized on Monday in the Shatt al-Arab waterway close to the Iraqi border. Al-Alam television said the men had admitted breaching Iran’s borders. UK diplomats have been holding talks with Iran about what a spokesman described as an "unfortunate mistake". British diplomatic staff in Tehran have requested immediate consular access to the men but there has been no response so far, nor have they been told where the men are or who is holding them. Tuesday morning saw Foreign Secretary Jack Straw speak to Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazzi. BBC Tehran correspondent Jim Muir says the two men have a good relationship, but it is unclear whether their conversations have yielded anything. Iranian interrogators have been questioning the eight men, who the British defence ministry says were part of a Royal Navy training team delivering a boat from the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr to Basra. A spokesman in London said Britain had been using boats to train the Iraqi river patrol service, and the craft may have strayed across the maritime border by mistake. "The waterway runs over a mile wide. The border runs pretty much down the middle of it," he said. The boats were unarmed but the crews were carrying their personal weapons, he added. TV pictures Iranian television has been showing pictures of the men, dressed in military fatigues, sitting on sofas and armchairs in what was obviously an office, although there was no indication of its location. They looked serious but were clearly unharmed. Our correspondent says that so far, the situation has not had a major impact on the complex Iranian political scene, despite the fact that relations between Iran and the UK are currently as sensitive as ever. State-run television has been giving it minimal coverage and only a few of the Iranian newspapers give the story front-page treatment. BBC diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall describes UK-Iranian relations as a difficult balancing act, with British forces in southern Iraq apparently under orders to keep border tensions with Iran to a minimum. The affair comes at a time when relations between the two countries are tenser than usual. Hardliners have staged a series of angry demonstrations outside the British embassy in Tehran in recent weeks to protest at the occupation of Iraq. Britain has also been strongly criticised too for its role in helping draft a tough resolution on Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna last week. Pre 30th June chest beating from a regime on the wane. |
| Posted by:Howard UK |
| #5 I'm with you Mike. It was a bit over the top, I guess. I'm not asking the sailors to sacrifice themselves before overwhelming force and anyone who knows the RN understands their guys are superbly trained and motivated. It's just frustrating not to know what the other side has in its arsenal. Furthermore, are the Brits the only Coalition forces using the Shatt al Arab? What about US Navy/CG? Also frustrating to think that the good guys got outsmarted by the Iranians. |
| Posted by: Michael 2004-06-22 1:52:39 PM |
| #4 Michael- In fairness, some of the Pasadaran boats are VERY well armed, with 40mm cannon, RPGs, and etc. Some of them were known for shooting up supertankers on a regular basis. At best, these would have been FRG hulls and may have been RHIB boats, and we know already all they were carrying were their personal weapons. No ROE - no matter how well laid out or comprehensive - can cover that awful moment when you are outnumbered and outgunned and know that the men under your command will die in a heartbeat when you resist. That is a hell of a responsibility to be faced with, and men far, far better than I have made the call to surrender and hope for the best. The RN officer in charge must be suffering the tortures of the damned right now. Let's wait to hear his report before we ask why he 'just pulled over'. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2004-06-22 1:13:44 PM |
| #3 I'm with Yosemite Sam on this one although I hope I'm wrong and that all will be smoothed over in a few days. I doubt the Iranians are worried about any British military action. The Mullahs know Blair would be blamed for over-reacting, and you can bet the Turbans are being seen in the Islamic world as kicking sand in the Brits faces and are being praised around dinner tables and cafes for doing so. You don't think they remember the adulation they got for holding the US Embassy personnel for +400 days? Sorry folks, despite the desire I read on Rantburg for the Brits to do something, it won't happen. One other thing. Did the RN guys just pull over and let themselves be boarded like they thought nothing would happen? Did they think it was just a traffic stop? Here's your ticket, sir, just be more careful next time. Just what are the rules of engagement that RN higher-ups have told sailors? I know what would have been the reaction of the crew in "Captain and Commander" |
| Posted by: Michael 2004-06-22 11:41:28 AM |
| #2 I think it was foolish of them to arrest these guys because they strayed 1/2 mile into their territory. Thats only a 1000yds. Not allot. They could have easily escorted them out. If I were calling the shots, I'd have aircraft and larger ships like frigates cross a 1/2 into their territory - but then again I would have invaded Iran first instead of Iraq because they are a larger, more open sponser of terror than Iraq ever was. These guys will be paraded on TV and in court. Iran will find them guilty. They will be used as barganing chips to buy time for their nuke program and then "graciously" released in a good will jesture. This is almost identical to the situation we had with the Chinese and our P-3 having to land on Hunan Island. |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2004-06-22 11:14:20 AM |
| #1 This makes so little sense (at least not to me). Why anger the Brits and, by extension, the US? Is all this simply for domestic consumption? |
| Posted by: Jonathan 2004-06-22 10:38:22 AM |