Iran says British sailors have admitted to illegal entry
TEHRAN, March 24: Iran said on Saturday that 15 British service personnel detained by its navy had admitted to violating its territorial waters, rejecting demands from London for their swift release.
The semi-official Fars news agency said the 15 naval personnel, who include a woman, had been brought to the capital Tehran for questioning about what they were doing during what Britain insists was a “routine” anti-smuggling patrol on Friday.Armed forces general staff spokesman General Alireza Afshar said the 15 had admitted to their interrogators that they knew they were inside Iranian waters, contrary to the insistence of the British defence ministry that they had remained in Iraqi waters.“They are currently being questioned and have admitted to violating the territorial waters of the Islamic Repubic,” Afshar told the Fars agency.
He told the Arabic language service of state television: “We have solid evidence that they were detained in our territorial waters. They themselves have confessed and admitted their mistake.”
He accused the British military of seeking to “create a climate of tension at a moment when a resolution on Iran is to be put to the vote despite the fact that Iran seeks calm and stability in the region”.
“The questioning of the British sailors is continuing to try to establish their real intentions,” he added.
Earlier another Iranian official told the Fars agency that the authorities had proof from the seized vessels' navigation equipment that the sailors had knowingly entered Iranian waters.
“The British troops who are in Iran's hands knew perfectly well that they were in Iranian territorial waters. Their navigation equipment proves it,” said the official, whom the news agency did not name.
“Besides the explanations of the British sailors, data from the computerised navigation equipment on board the vessels seized shows that they knowingly entered Iranian waters and stayed there.
“Our border guards did their duty,” he said, adding that the British navy should “pay more attention to its navigation equipment.” Britain summoned Iran's ambassador in London for a second day running to hear a demand for the swift release of the Britons.
Junior foreign minister Lord David Triesman met Rasoul Movahedian at the ministry for about one hour in what a spokesman told AFP were “frank, but polite” talks about the 14 men and one woman's detention.
“He (Triesman) reiterated the United Kingdom's demand for the immediate release of the detained personnel and their equipment,” he added.
The German presidency of the European Union also called for the immediate release of the British personnel.
The British defence ministry said the 15 sailors and marines based on HMS Cornwall in the Gulf had finished inspecting a merchant ship in Iraqi waters when they and their two boats were surrounded and escorted by Iranian vessels into Iranian waters.Although it is not the first time British sailors have been seized by Iran in the waterway, the incident came as the UN Security Council prepared to adopt new sanctions against Tehran over its controversial nuclear programme.
Some 500 Iranian students demonstrated against the “British aggression” on Saturday on the Iranian side of the Shatt al-Arab, the narrow waterway known as Arvand Roud in Persian, that divides it from Iraq.
A senior defence source told the Sun tabloid that the sailors “did the right thing. They were heavily outnumbered and outgunned. There was no point in putting up a fight. No shots were exchanged and from what we understand so far, none of our people has been harmed.”
In June 2004, eight British sailors and marines were detained for three days in Iran after being seized during another routine operation. They were paraded blindfold on television and forced to apologise for their “mistake.”
On that occasion Iran insisted that the British boats -- which it has not yet returned -- were intercepted only after they entered Iranian waters on the Shatt al-Arab.—AFP
