Regards, Ivan
Posted on 06/21/2004 10:31:30 PM PDT by MadIvan
Key points
Key quote
"The Ministry of Defence can confirm that eight Royal navy personnel from the Royal Navy training team based in southern Iraq have been detained by the Iranian authorities while delivering a boat from Umm Qasr to Basrah." - MOD spokesman
Story in full - BRITISH and Iranian diplomats were last night locked in intense negotiations after the Tehran government’s forces seized three Royal Navy vessels and eight crew members on the disputed Shatt al Arab waterway marking Iraq’s south eastern border.
The fast patrol boats had been intended for use by the new Iraqi defence forces in operations to police the waterway against the activities of smugglers and militants crossing backwards and forwards from Iran. Radio contact was lost with the vessels early yesterday morning and Iran later said they had been impounded.
As the diplomatic row escalated, Tehran said it intended to interrogate the crews until it was satisfied with the explanation for why they had entered Iranian territorial waters.
The Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence said they were urgently investigating the reports that the vessels had been impounded in Iranian waters close to Iraq.
The three boats, which are not armed, were seized in the Shatt al Arab waterway which divides Iran and Iraq. The Iranians said that maps and weapons were found on board.
A Foreign Office spokesman said that British diplomats in Tehran had contacted the Iranian government over the reported incident but it was still unclear what had happened.
"The Iranian government and our embassy are in close contact over this," the spokesman said.
The incident comes at a difficult time in relations between Iran and Britain, which has been critical of Tehran’s nuclear programme. London helped draft a resolution rebuking Iran for past nuclear cover-ups at last week’s meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors.
Iran says its program is aimed only at producing energy, while the United States accuses Tehran of trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran accused Britain, which it had seen as a partner in the investigation into its nuclear activities, of caving in to US pressure on the resolution.
Over Iraq, the Foreign Office has been at pains to play down differences with Tehran, although British military commanders on the ground have expressed frustration with the activities of the Iranians.
They have complained that the Iranians have been taking advantage of the situation in Iraq to push their border westwards, grabbing disputed tracts of land, and there are suspicions that Iran has military units inside Iraq, training and supporting groups committed to destabilising the coalition.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Iranian naval guards, "acting upon their legal duty," seized the boats and detained the occupants when they entered Iran’s territorial waters.
The Arabic-language Al-Alam television reported that the three British boats were seized at about 11 am (0630 GMT) between the Bahmanshir and Arvand rivers, which would put them in the Shatt-al-Arab waterway east of the Iraqi city of Faw.
"Interrogation of those detained will continue until the matter is clarified," Mr Asefi said.
British forces using fast patrol boats have been involved in anti-smuggling operations in the Shatt al Arab.
The waterway has long been a major smuggling route for contraband oil being illegally exported from Iraq as well as a crossing point for militants opposed to the US-British occupation seeking to infiltrate the country.
The waterway has also always been a source of tension between the neighbours.
Formed by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, its southern stretch forms part of the border between Iraq and Iran.
The two nations have long fought over navigation rights, especially since 1935 when an international commission granted Iraq total control of the channel.
It left Iran with very limited access to its own ports and no ability to develop new facilities.
For Iraq, its deep waters gave a direct route in and out of the Gulf for sea-going vessels which saw the second city of Basra - on its banks 80 miles to the north - become the key sea port for freight and oil shipments.
Although the two countries negotiated territorial agreements over the channel in 1975, skirmishes became more regular and by 1980, the tensions exploded into full-scale war when Saddam Hussein claimed the entire waterway.
Last night the Ministry of Defence said it had lost contact early Monday "with a patrol of three small craft which it is understood were being delivered by eight personnel from the Royal Navy training team to the Iraqi Riverine Patrol Service."
A British military spokesman in Basra, Captain Donald Francis, confirmed that radio contact had been lost with the three boats "in the vicinity of the Shatt al Arab waterway" in the early hours of the morning.
An MoD spokeswoman said: "The Ministry of Defence can confirm that eight Royal navy personnel from the Royal Navy training team based in southern Iraq have been detained by the Iranian authorities while delivering a boat from Umm Qasr to Basrah.
"The team members were travelling in three boats [two Boston Whalers and one British Army Combat Support Boat] along the Shatt al Arab waterway on 21 June. The boats were unarmed but the crews were carrying their personal weapons."
She added: "The Foreign & Commonwealth Office is liaising with the Iranian Government to resolve the situation."
The training team was established in July last year to assist in the formation of the Basra river police. Currently, it has 31 members, including Royal Navy and Royal Marine personnel, and operates along 380km of waterways in Basra province.
The Iran-Iraq border runs down the middle of the waterway and it is believed that the boats may have strayed on to the Iranian side.
Last night the Foreign Office said the British ambassador in Tehran, Richard Dalton, was still seeking official confirmation from the Iranian authorities that the eight were being detained, even though details had been released.
"We haven’t got absolute confirmation that the Iranians have them. They haven’t told us although they have gone public," a spokesman said.
British sources were last night playing down suggestions that the arrest of the Royal Navy team was linked to the diplomatic row over the Iranian nuclear programme. One source said the seizure of the boats was being treated as a "low-level tactical military incident" and that it would be unusual for the Iranians to link such an event to wider strategic issues.
Officials said they were hopeful that they could secure an early resolution to the incident.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
Thanks for the ping, friend.
negotiations? release them immediately or else. the end.
I am concerned for their safety, and praying that there is a quick resolution for this incident. If not, then it is a cause for war, and the US will stand with the UK.
BTTT
I was waiting for the "across the pond" version of these events. Iran just keeps sticking a thumb in the eye of the west.
The mullahs must be told to give up the sailors and their boats, or die.
Time to get Iron Maggie out of mothballs.
Actually, I was thinking more in the line of cities disappearing.
That's a BIG footprint to wipe away! *L*
I agree with what you said,completely. This is provocation and it really does look as though some of the Iranian Mullahs have no brains at all.
Or there is the tin foil hat theory, the rebels have captured the sailors to bring about a forein interevention.
Oh LORD...that IS tinfoil! Neither England nor America is going to nuked Iran over this.
Exactly..
Iran is in no position to start playing "my side of the river".. especially with Great Britain...
Turn over the boats, personnel, and all their "property", immeadiately..
Otherwise, lose every boat, ship, port, and sailor along the "disputed" waterway...
The waterway is not disputed, not since the end of the Iran Iraq war. Iraq wanted the whole thing, but the Iranians "convinced" 'em otherwise. However our strength is more in the still shallow waters of the Gulf. Lots of Iranian naval assets there, including a bunch belonging to the Revolutionary Guards, which would be my first target if I was the targeteer.
The mullahs are just asking for an ass whippin'
Iran is back in the hostage game.
Asefi says Iran seized three British vessels, arrested its crew
Tehran, June 21, IRNA -- Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza said Monday that Iranian naval guards had seized three British vessels in its territorial waters and detained eight sailors. "This morning, three British boats with eight occupants entered the Islamic Republic`s territorial waters and Iranian naval guards, acting upon their legal duty, seized the boats and detained their occupants," he said. "At the moment, these individuals are being interrogated and an investigation is underway to clarify the matter," Asefi added.
The Arabic satellite television Al-Alam, operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, had earlier reported that three British navy vessels were intercepted Monday and eight armed crew members were arrested. The three British ships -- described as `warships` -- entered Iranian territorial waters not far from the Iran-Iraq border, according to the television. "Iranian forces seized the ships and eight military personnel on board," the report said. A British Defense Ministry spokesman told Reuters in London, "We are checking this out. We cannot confirm or deny anything at the moment."
The move comes shortly after Britain joined other key UN members in accusing Iran of being less than fully cooperative with the International Atomic Energy Agency in disclosing the nature of its nuclear program. Britain, France and Germany lent their weight to a resolution issued by the IAEA`s Board of Governors Friday `deploring` Iran`s alleged lack of full cooperation. Tehran says its nuclear program is aimed at peaceful generation of power, and strongly rejects Washington`s allegations that the program is being cloaked to build an atomic bomb. Iran has suspended production of centrifuge components since April 9 as a confidence-building measure with the international community.
It has also voluntarily frozen its uranium enrichment activities since last October and signed a protocol allowing snap inspections of its nuclear sites by the IAEA. Reacting to the resolution, Iran may resume manufacture and assembly of centrifuge components.
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