U.K. confirms loss of boat communication

AP | 6/21/04

[kattracks]

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — The Royal Navy acknowledged Monday that it had lost contact with three small patrol boats after they went on a routine mission in the waterway between Iraq and Iran, a British military spokesman said.

The statement came shortly after state television in Iran said that Tehran had confiscated the three British military vessels and arrested eight armed crew members. British officials did not confirm the boats were captured or the crewmembers detained.

"I can confirm that three small Royal Navy patrol boats and eight crew have been out of communication since the early hours of this morning," said a military spokesman in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on condition of anonymity. "It is not unusual for the Royal Navy to be patrolling the Shatt-al-Arab."

The Royal Navy has been training Iraqi personnel in coastal defense for several weeks on the waterway, and it is possible that the vessels were part of that exercise.

[Southack]

"I think this might have been a SAS insertion.........what they were re conning is anyones guess."

They could have been hunting out terrorist insurgents who might be hiding in the marshes and islands in or near no-man's land; they could have been extracting a spy or leading dissident (that would explain Iran being all over them so soon); they could have been on an honest patrol, but gotten "spoofed" by anti-GPS technology; they could have been on a recon or sabotage mission, too.

But "delivering boats" East of Faw they were not. Not much of a cover story, I'm afraid.

[gg188]

I just got home from work! Are we bombing yet? Our local talk radio drive-time conservative didn't even mention this. Have Blair and Bush unleashed the hounds of hell on these freaks, yet?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Foxnews just showed a clip with Kimmet saying this was a training mission returning from Al Faw to their base in Basra.

Powell saying the British are talking directly to the Iranians.

[nuconvert]

My guess is the oil pipe line.

[Southack]

We need to figure out if they've gotten "spoofed" by anti-GPS technology. We lost a couple of cruise missiles that crashed into Iran during our invasion last year, so finding out if the Iranians have spoofed our GPS system is important.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Nope, the British are communicating with the iranians according to a Fox Report/

[musicman]

What if we end up seeing another "gonna behead these Brits unless UK troops are removed from Iraq" video on good
ol' Al-Terrorist...ooopps I meant Al-Jazzeera TV???

[Boot Hill]

“It said the boats were confiscated between the Bahmanshir and Arvand rivers, which would put them in the Shatt-al-Arab waterway, east of the Iraqi city of Faw.”

The Bahmanshir River (see map in post #27) is definitely in Iranian territory, no territorial dispute there. But I can't find (on any of my maps) the Arvand River. In any event, the claim that they were taken "between the Bahmanshir and Arvand rivers", is strictly an Iranian claim. But if true, that would be a definite FUBAR!

--Boot Hill

[nuconvert]

I think this may be why the Brits were there. Protection.

"Al Faw Petroleum Enterprises, Basrah - Iraq

On the terrains of Al Faw on the banks of the Shatt Al Arab river an oil jetty is built next to Abu Fluss.

Al Faw has a fleet of oil barge tankers with full equipment incl. generators. On each barge are 4 pumps available with a capacity of 250 ton per hour each. Al Faw has also service tugboats to their disposal and supply boats, crew boats etc., all appropriate for services.

In general the oil barges are used to bring the product from different sources in Basrah (El Basrah, El Muftea Oil Terminal (on the Shatt Al Arab river)) to open sea or to Khor Lzubeyr and Umm Qasr, but also to supply to places near Al Bakr Terminal and Al Amaya Terminal.

Al Faw has also a floating oil terminal, which a capacity of 5,000 ton product, fully equipped with a pump system of 1,000 tons per hour and with accommodation facilities too."

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Well there certainly is some good stuff to protect on the Iraqi side of the line.

Wonder what might be on the Iranian side of the border?

[Boot Hill]

• “The Bahmanshir River (see map in post #27) is definitely in Iranian territory, no territorial dispute there.”

Wait a minute!

Upon looking at my maps more closely, I think I may be in error about the Bahmanshir River being definitely in Iran. the Bahmanshir is one of those "non-rivers" like the East River in New York. It has an outlet to the Persian Gulf that IS in Iran, but it also loops north back to the "Shatt al-Arab" (Euphrates River). So it IS possible that the point of capture the Iranians are describing is actually in Iraqi territory.

Still haven't found hide nor hair of the Arvand River, though.

--Boot Hill

[Destro]

I posted articles earlier this week about Iran in boat attacks on her neighbors.

[ScreamingFist]

Still haven't found hide nor hair of the Arvand River, though.

Situated 115 kms south-west of Ahvaz, Iran on the Arvand Rood (Arvand River), Abadan is a leading economical centre in Iran. Rich mineral resources contribute to the importance of this major port. At night, the lights mirrored in the water of the river afford an impressive sight.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Might be some clues in this:

Walls riddled with bullet holes and bombed out buildings line the streets of Khorramshahr, Iran. It looks like a war zone, because, well, it was a war zone. Even though the war has been over for twelve years, this town has not been fully rebuilt or cleaned up. Along the Karun River, which divides the town in half, old, rusty shells of boats line the shore, and masts of sunken ships rise up from the water. A large bridge touches both shores, but is missing the middle section, the part that runs over the water.

The heat is oppressive, even though it's only April, which adds to the sense of hopelessness that this part of the city conveys. "This used to be a beautiful town," Hady tells us, as we survey the destruction before us. We drive near the mouth of the Karun River, where it lets out into the Arvand River, which leads to the sea.

"There." Hady points out across the Arvand in the distance. "That is Iraq."

_____________snip

"Saddam called the Karun River the Shatt-al-Arab, the 'Arab River,' in order to raise the support of the other Arab nations."

Reference from :

here

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

And a photo of the area:

____________________________________________________

Karun River Delta, Iran   June 1996 – The Karun River, along with Tigris and Euphrates Rivers immediately west of this area, has formed a broad deltaic plain at the northern end of the Persian (Arabian) Gulf.  This section of coastal plain is located in the southwest corner of Iran and includes sandy beaches, inter-tidal flats, and small estuaries.  Large quantities of sand and silt are deposited at the mouths of the distributary channels (darker, meandering features upper half of the image) of the Karun River.  Except for the deeper channels (darker blues), the coastal waters appear to be shallow with extensive sandbars (tan-looking features) and a few islands.  The darker water inlet (near bottom center) displays an intricate drainage pattern.  The Iranian port city of Bandar-e Pahlavi is situated along the northern edge of this inland harbor.  The straight, linear features (lower right corner) are highway and pipeline right of ways.

[Boot Hill]

Got it! Thanks for posting that. It looks like the Arvand River is at the confluence of the Karun, Bahmanshir and Shatt al-Arab rivers, near the city of Abadan. Looks like the Brits were where they belonged.

--Boot Hill

[Capt. Tom]

Iran needs to return the sailors and the boats in either case--or face war.

Not really.- Tom

Korea WebWeekly (January 16, 2003) --
Kim Jong Il had planned to return the spy ship captured in 1968 to Bush - but not any longer. Bush's personal animosity toward him changes Kim's mind.

North Korea captured the USS Pueblo in the waters of Wonsan on January 23, 1968. Pueblo was on a spy mission for the US National Security Agency at the time. Although the ship's crew were repatriated after a lengthy negotiation, North Korea kept the ship as a war trophy.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Another photo with some identification:

Map is interactive ( zoomable )on the original website:

The Persian Gulf and the delta of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, Kuwait, Iraq, and Iran

[nuconvert]

Well, besides more oil refineries on the Iranian side,.......here's something I found in a city 45km from Abadan.....but it may be tin foil time......Darkhoein (nuclear)Power Plant. It was supposed to be built by French a while back, but the deal never went thru.(?) Suppose maybe there's a facility there that the regime is trying to hide and very protective of?

[Arkinsaw]

Kim Jong Il had planned to return the spy ship

In 1999 the North Koreans moved the Pueblo from one side of North Korea to the other a while back. To do this, they had to go around Korea in international waters. This should have been when the US recovered the Pueblo IMO. We said and did absolutely nothing.

There were some stories that the NK disguised the Pueblo as a freighter with 2x4's and such and that they loaded it with school-children for the transit and had orders to blow it up if stopped.