[Peace-discuss] Iran seizes Brit sailors

[Robert Naiman]

This article would seem to indicate that the Brits are not seeking to
escalate the situation:
--
The Foreign Office has demanded the immediate and safe return of the
men, who are based on HMS Cornwall.

That vessel's commander, Commodore Nick Lambert, said he was hoping
there had been a "simple mistake" over territorial waters.

"There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that they [British personnel]
were in Iraqi territorial waters. Equally, the Iranians may claim they
were in Iranian waters.

"I hope we find this is a simple misunderstanding at the tactical level."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6484279.stm

On 3/23/07, Ricky Baldwin <baldwinricky at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Oh, no.  Could this be the excuse they've been waiting
> for?  I tried to find a better article, but even AFP
> had less info.  Presumably there will be a dispute as
> to whose waters this was in, possibly reminiscent of
> the very adult argument Reagan had with Qaddafi...
>
> Anybody know more?  (about this, I mean)
> Ricky
>
> Iran nabs British sailors in Iraq waters
>
> By ROBERT BARR, Associated Press Writer 3 minutes ago
>
> Iranian naval vessels seized 15 British sailors who
> had boarded a ship suspected of smuggling cars in the
> Persian Gulf off the Iraqi coast on Friday, officials
> said.
>
> The British government demanded "the immediate and
> safe return of our people and equipment."
>
> The British Navy personnel were "engaged in routine
> boarding operations of merchant shipping in Iraqi
> territorial waters," and had completed a ship
> inspection when they were accosted by Iranian vessels,
> Britain's Defense Ministry said.
>
> "We are urgently pursuing this matter with the Iranian
> authorities at the highest level and ... the Iranian
> ambassador has been summoned to the Foreign Office,"
> the ministry said.
>
> The seizure comes at a time of rising tensions between
> Iran and the West, which accuses the Islamic republic
> of violating a U.N. calls for it to halt uranium
> enrichment and open its nuclear program for
> inspection. It also comes amid U.S. accusations that
> Iran is funding and arming Shiite militias in Iraq,
> worsening sectarian tensions there.
>
> The United States, Britain's chief ally, has built up
> its naval forces in the Gulf in a show of strength
> directed at Iran. Two American carriers, including the
> USS John C. Stennis — backed by a strike group with
> more than 6,500 sailors and Marines and with
> additional minesweeping ships — arrived in the region
> in recent months, ratcheting up tensions with Iran.
>
> A Pentagon official said the Britons were in two
> inflatable boats from the frigate H.M.S. Cornwall
> during a routine smuggling investigation, said the
> official, who spoke on condition on anonymity because
> he was not authorized to speak about the incident.
>
> He said the confrontation happened as the British
> contingent was traveling along the boundary of
> territorial waters between Iran and Iraq. They were
> detained by the Revolutionary Guard's navy after
> inspecting a merchant ship believed to be smuggling
> cars, he said.
>
> A fisherman who said he was with a group of Iraqis
> from the southern city of Basra fishing in Iraqi
> waters in the northern area of the Gulf said he saw
> the Iranian seizure. The fisherman declined to be
> identified because of security concerns.
>
> "Two boats, each with a crew of six to eight
> multinational forces, were searching Iraqi and Iranian
> boats Friday morning in Ras al-Beesha area in the
> northern entrance of the Arab Gulf, but big Iranian
> boats came and took the two boats with their crews to
> the Iranian waters."
>
> In June 2004, six British marines and two sailors were
> seized by Iran in the Shatt al-Arab between Iran and
> Iraq. They were presented blindfolded on Iranian
> television and admitted entering Iranian waters
> illegally, then released unharmed after three days.
>
> ___
>
> Associated Press writers Pauline Jelinek in Washington
> and Kim Gamel in Baghdad contributed to this report.
>
>
>
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