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thedrifter
03-24-07, 06:42 AM
Britain demands Iran release 15 British sailors, marines <br />
By Jim Krane, Associated Press <br />
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Naval forces of Iran's hardline Revolutionary Guards seized 15 British...

thedrifter
03-24-07, 06:44 AM
Sailors moved to Tehran for questioning

Fifteen British sailors and marines detained by the Iranian navy while patrolling off Iraq have been transferred to the capital Tehran, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

"The 15 British sailor arrested on Friday for failing to respect international frontiers and for illegally entering Iranian territorial waters were transferred to Tehran on Saturday morning to give an explanation for their actions," the news agency said Saturday.

It said a woman was among the 15.

Ellie

thedrifter
03-24-07, 08:45 AM
Iranian military suggests has British “confessions”
(Reuters)

24 March 2007

TEHERAN - An Iranian military official said on Saturday “confessions” and other evidence showed that British naval personnel who were detained in the Gulf on Friday had illegally entered Iranian waters.

Britain says the 15 sailors and marines were seized in Iraqi waters and have demanded their immediate release.

“The investigation, and confessions that we have, shows they have been arrested in Iranian waters,” an armed forces commander told state radio, which only gave his last name Afshari.

“The investigation is going on and they are healthy and there is no problem.”

Asked about the statement, a British diplomat in Teheran said: “We still maintain they were in Iraqi waters when they were picked up.”

Ellie

thedrifter
03-26-07, 06:11 AM
Iran warns that sailors may face charges <br />
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By DAVID STRINGER, Associated Press Writers <br />
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Iran warned that 15 British sailors and marines could face charges for allegedly entering Iranian waters...

thedrifter
03-26-07, 08:37 AM
UK Marines charged with assault <br />
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Two British Royal Marines have appeared in court in Cyprus charged with assaulting a taxi driver, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. <br />
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The alleged assault...

thedrifter
03-27-07, 04:47 AM
Clash with Iran may move to 'different phase'

LONDON (AP) — Britain hopes that diplomacy will win the release of 15 sailors and Marines detained by Iran but is prepared to move to a "different phase" if not, Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday.

Britain and the United States have said the sailors and Marines were intercepted Friday just after they completed a search of a civilian vessel in the Iraqi part of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, where the border with Iran has historically been disputed.

"I hope we manage to get them (the Iranian government) to realize they have to release them," Blair said in an interview with GMTV.

"If not, then this will move into a different phase."

Asked what that meant, Blair said: "Well, we will just have to see, but what they should understand is that we cannot have a situation where our servicemen and women are seized when actually they are in Iraqi waters under a U.N. mandate, patrolling perfectly rightly and in accordance with that mandate, and then effectively captured and taken to Iran."
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Iraq | Iran | UN | Britain | Prime Minister | Marines | Tony Blair | Iranian government

Blair said his primary concern was the welfare of the British troops.

"What we are trying to do at the moment is to pursue this through the diplomatic channels and make the Iranian government understand these people have to be released and that there is absolutely no justification whatever for holding them."

Asked whether he thought Iran was retaliating for the arrest of five Iranians by U.S. forces in Iraq, Blair said that "should have absolutely no bearing at all."

"Any Iranian forces who are inside Iraq are breaching the U.N. mandate and undermining the democratically elected government of Iraq, so they have got no cause to be there at all," Blair said.

"The two situations are completely distinct.

"In the end, it is a question really for the Iranian government as to whether they want to abide by international law or not," the prime minister said.

The eight sailors and seven Marines from the frigate HMS Cornwall were carrying out a routine search of a vessel they suspected of smuggling, British officials said.

Britain insists its forces were not doing anything wrong, but the Iranians have condemned the move as an act of aggression and threatened prosecution.

Ellie

thedrifter
03-28-07, 07:29 AM
Another Minor Act Of War
By Joe Mariani
March 27, 2007

What would happen if one country committed a blatant act of war against another, and no one did anything about it... or worse, attempted to compromise with the attacker? Would that country's leaders feel embarrassed over their breach of protocol and apologize? Or would they feel emboldened by the soft response to commit more attacks in hope of gaining further concessions? History has taught us that the latter is far more likely. But some refuse to learn the lesson. It's happened before, of course, and it seems to be happening again.

On Friday, 23 March 2007, a group of British sailors and Royal Marines from the frigate HMS Cornwall were inspecting a small ship in the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which was carrying vehicles for sale in Iraq. Their inflatable boats were surrounded and captured by six heavily armed Iranian gunboats, and the 15 Brits were accused of entering Iranian territory and spying. They were moved to Tehran, and face a "trial" for espionage. (web site) But with British and American ships routinely stopping and inspecting water traffic in that area for years, why would Iran choose to act now?

It's probably no coincidence that the Brits were taken hostage hours before a critical UN vote on sanctions against Iran for refusing to halt its nuclear program, to show Iran's defiance and try to influence Great Britain's vote. It's no stretch of the imagination to see that the Iranians believe the UK will be unable to respond, with Tony Blair on his way out. This seizure may have been staged in response to the disappearance of Revolutionary Guard commander Ali Reza Asgari, who Iran suspects of defecting to the West with his detailed knowledge of Iran's nuclear program. In that case, the captured Brits would be offered in exchange for Asgari's return. The Iranian government may even plan to drive a wedge between Great Britain and America by holding the Brits hostage in return for the release of five members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard captured by Americans in Iraq. The Iranians may have decided to commit this act for any of these reasons, or all of them, or for some reason yet unknown. In any case, it's no surprise that one of the world's worst terror-supporting governments would act like terrorists themselves. After all, the Iranian regime began when revolutionaries took over the American embassy in 1979 and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.

Prime Minister Blair has warned the Iranian government that the seizure was unjustified, and that they only have "a few days" to return the Brits, but his implied threat has no teeth. (web site) Blair has already been forced to withdraw troops from Iraq by a weak-kneed Parliament. President Bush has pledged to back him, but Congress won't even support our own troops in battle, much less would they commit to aiding the British in a new fight. Some members of the Democrat-controlled Congress are trying to pass a measure that would prevent President Bush from using force against Iran without specific Congressional permission. (web site) That, too, is no coincidence -- our enemies pay closer attention to the workings of Washington than most of our own citizens.

The weakness openly displayed by the Left is now coming back to haunt us all. No one has ever attacked a country because that country looked strong. The more we try to appease and compromise with our enemies, the more they will continue to act aggressively. The only possible effective response to this act of war is a credible threat of force if the Brits are not promptly returned. And that's precisely the response both we and Great Britain are unable to make. The Iranians will, in the absence of any action on our part, keep committing minor acts of war until another major war becomes inevitable, with them many times stronger than they are now.

That's how it's always done, after all. Only this time, the enemy will start off with nuclear capability. The coming war with Iran, if not prevented by strong action while they are still only a conventional military power, will forever change the face of the world.

Ellie

thedrifter
03-28-07, 10:40 AM
Female Sailor To Be Released, Report Says
Boat Location Confirmed; Blair Turns Up Rhetoric

POSTED: 9:01 am EDT March 28, 2007
UPDATED: 9:13 am EDT March 28, 2007

LONDON -- Iran's foreign minister said a female British sailor held captive by Iran may be released later Wednesday or on Thursday, a Turkish TV station reported.

"The woman soldier is free either today or tomorrow," CNN-Turk television quoted Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki as saying on the sidelines of an Arab summit meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said the woman, identified as sailor Faye Turney, 26, had been given privacy.

Boat Location Confirmed

Britain's military said Iran's own coordinates bolster the assertion that a captured Royal Navy crew was in Iraq's territorial waters when it was taken.

Vice Admiral Charles Style said those coordinates put the British boarding vessels 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi territory when the Iranians showed up.

Style said that the Iranians have given conflicting information on where they believe they picked up the Britons.

"The Iranian government has provided us with two different positions for the incident," Style said. The first we received on Saturday and the second on Monday. As the map shows, the first of these points still lies within Iraqi territorial waters. We pointed this out to them on Sunday in diplomatic contacts."

"After we did this, they then provided a second set of coordinates that places the incident in Iranian waters over two nautical miles from the position given by HMS Cornwall and confirmed by the merchant vessel," Style said. "The two Iranian positions are just under a nautical mile apart -– 1,800 yards or so. It is hard to understand a reason for this change of coordinates. We unambiguously contest both the positions provided by the Iranians."

Style said that an overflight of the merchant vessel was conducted Sunday morning, which confirmed it was anchored in Iraqi waters.

"The action by Iranian forces in arresting and detaining our people is unjustified and wrong," Style said. "As such it is a matter of deep concern to us and the families of the people who have been taken. We continue not only to call for their safe, but for their safe and speedy, return, and we continue to seek immediate consular access to them as a prelude to their release."

Britain and the United States have said the sailors and Marines were intercepted Friday after they completed a search of a civilian vessel in the Iraqi part of a waterway, where the border between Iran and Iraq has been disputed for centuries.

Iran said the crew members are being treated well, but refused to say where they are.

Blair: Time To Turn Up Heat

Tony Blair wants to turn up the pressure on Iran.

The British prime minister has told the House of Commons the taking of 15 British sailors and Marines by Iran is "completely unacceptable, wrong and illegal."

Blair spoke shortly after the British military released satellite data it says proves the British boats were about two miles inside Iraqi territorial waters when the crew members were seized.

Blair said it's time to "ratchet up" diplomatic and international pressure to make Tehran understand "its total isolation."

Ellie