Iran grills British sailors despite push for release
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
IRAN said yesterday it was interrogating 15 British sailors it seized last week claiming they had entered its waters illegally, defying intense international pressure for their release.
As the diplomatic row deepened, Britain's ambassador Geoffrey Adams held more talks at the foreign ministry in Tehran and was assured that the group was "fit and well" the Foreign Office said in London.
Baghdad also backed up Britain's claim that the 14 men and one woman — whose exact whereabouts remain unknown — were taken in Iraqi waters in the Shatt al-Arab waterway that divides the two countries.
Shockwaves from the seizure, which British Prime Minister Tony Blair has labelled "unjustified and wrong" continued to reverberate around the world.
With tensions rising in the region over both the group's capture and Iran's disputed nuclear programme, oil prices rose to their highest levels this year — well above US$62 in Asian trade.
Britain says the naval personnel — eight sailors and seven marines — were conducting "routine" anti-smuggling operations when they were seized at gunpoint in the Shatt al-Arab water in the north of the Gulf last Friday.
The Foreign Office said Adams met senior Iranian officials for an hour in his second meeting in two days, describing the meeting as "cordial" and conducted in a "business-like atmosphere".
"The ambassador pressed hard for details of where the detainees are being held and for consular accesss to them and what plans the Iranians had for their release," a spokeswoman said.
"The MFA (ministry of foreign affairs) assured us that the group is fit and well and in Iran. There are no further details at this stage."
Iran's deputy foreign minister Mehdi Mostafavi said the sailors were being interrogated but gave no information about where they were being held or whether they would face formal charges.
"The case of the Britons who violated Iranian territorial waters is following the due legal process and they must answer for their violation," state television reported.
"The British sailors are currently being interrogated and must clarify whether they entered Iranian waters deliberately or by mistake," he said. "When it becomes clear, a decision will be made."
Mostafavi denied reports Iran wanted to exchange the sailors with Iranians seized by US forces in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil in January, an incident that triggered further tensions between Tehran and archfoe Washington. Iraq said Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari had telephoned his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki last Sunday to urge the release of the Britons, saying they were operating in Iraq with the government's consent.
"The minister stressed that they, according to Iraqi authorities' information, were detained inside Iraqi territorial waters," his ministry said in a statement.
AFP
As the diplomatic row deepened, Britain's ambassador Geoffrey Adams held more talks at the foreign ministry in Tehran and was assured that the group was "fit and well" the Foreign Office said in London.
Baghdad also backed up Britain's claim that the 14 men and one woman — whose exact whereabouts remain unknown — were taken in Iraqi waters in the Shatt al-Arab waterway that divides the two countries.
Shockwaves from the seizure, which British Prime Minister Tony Blair has labelled "unjustified and wrong" continued to reverberate around the world.
With tensions rising in the region over both the group's capture and Iran's disputed nuclear programme, oil prices rose to their highest levels this year — well above US$62 in Asian trade.
Britain says the naval personnel — eight sailors and seven marines — were conducting "routine" anti-smuggling operations when they were seized at gunpoint in the Shatt al-Arab water in the north of the Gulf last Friday.
The Foreign Office said Adams met senior Iranian officials for an hour in his second meeting in two days, describing the meeting as "cordial" and conducted in a "business-like atmosphere".
"The ambassador pressed hard for details of where the detainees are being held and for consular accesss to them and what plans the Iranians had for their release," a spokeswoman said.
"The MFA (ministry of foreign affairs) assured us that the group is fit and well and in Iran. There are no further details at this stage."
Iran's deputy foreign minister Mehdi Mostafavi said the sailors were being interrogated but gave no information about where they were being held or whether they would face formal charges.
"The case of the Britons who violated Iranian territorial waters is following the due legal process and they must answer for their violation," state television reported.
"The British sailors are currently being interrogated and must clarify whether they entered Iranian waters deliberately or by mistake," he said. "When it becomes clear, a decision will be made."
Mostafavi denied reports Iran wanted to exchange the sailors with Iranians seized by US forces in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil in January, an incident that triggered further tensions between Tehran and archfoe Washington. Iraq said Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari had telephoned his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki last Sunday to urge the release of the Britons, saying they were operating in Iraq with the government's consent.
"The minister stressed that they, according to Iraqi authorities' information, were detained inside Iraqi territorial waters," his ministry said in a statement.
AFP
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