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Iran warns sailors may be charged Iran warns sailors may be charged
(about 2 hours later)
Fifteen Royal Navy personnel captured on Friday could be charged with illegally entering Iranian waters, officials in Iran have warned.Fifteen Royal Navy personnel captured on Friday could be charged with illegally entering Iranian waters, officials in Iran have warned.
Iran's foreign minister said the issue was "being considered legally" and suggested there may be charges.Iran's foreign minister said the issue was "being considered legally" and suggested there may be charges.
But Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett have insisted there was no violation of Iranian territory.But Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett have insisted there was no violation of Iranian territory.
UK ambassador to Iran Geoffrey Adams has met officials in Tehran as efforts to resolve the stand-off continue. The Foreign Office said it is continuing to press for access to the group, and information on them.
Response awaited 'Spies'
A Foreign Office spokesman said Mr Adams met officials at the Ministry of Foreign affairs in Tehran "to press again for the release of our personnel, ask where they are being held and ask for consular access". On Sunday the UK ambassador to Iran, Geoffrey Adams, met officials in Tehran but failed to find out where the 15 were being held or to gain consular access.
HMS Cornwall's area of operationsHMS Cornwall's area of operations
He added: "We are waiting to get a response to that." Three years ago, eight British servicemen were detained by Iran after a similar confrontation.
The navy personnel were seized at gunpoint after inspecting an Iraqi boat and returning to their two small boats to head back to HMS Cornwall. Former Marine Scott Fallon was one of those captured.
He told BBC Radio Five Live he was subjected to mock executions and accused of spying.
"They just wanted to know our mission - why we were there, why we were in Iran.
"We had no answers to these questions. Our mission was in Iraq, where we were... I suppose the same thing will be going on with these guys."
He added: "You don't know if they're trying maybe to pin something else onto you. In our case it was being accused of spies in Iran, which was all new to us".
In the current incident, the navy personnel were seized at gunpoint after inspecting an Iraqi boat and returning to their two small boats to head back to HMS Cornwall.
HAVE YOUR SAY The country of Iran needs to have a good long hard look at how this situation will look to the rest of the world Gary, UK Send us your commentsHAVE YOUR SAY The country of Iran needs to have a good long hard look at how this situation will look to the rest of the world Gary, UK Send us your comments
UK officials have not been told where the group is being held. Iran says they were trespassing in Iranian waters, which the UK denies - insisting they were in Iraqi territory on a routine patrol.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has told reporters in New York that the captured Britons were involved in "the illegal entrance into Iranian territorial waters and this issue is being considered legally". Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, speaking from New York on Sunday, said the captured Britons were involved in "the illegal entrance into Iranian territorial waters and this issue is being considered legally".
Students belonging to the paramilitary Basij group, which is close to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have called for the Britons to be put on trial.Students belonging to the paramilitary Basij group, which is close to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have called for the Britons to be put on trial.
'Unjustified and wrong'
Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday said Iran's detention of the personnel was "unjustified and wrong".
"It simply is not true that they went into Iranian territorial waters and I hope the Iranian government understands how fundamental an issue this is for us," Mr Blair said.
BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said that in a telephone call with Mrs Beckett, Mr Mottaki said that consular access was not likely until the initial investigations had been concluded.BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said that in a telephone call with Mrs Beckett, Mr Mottaki said that consular access was not likely until the initial investigations had been concluded.
Our correspondent said the Iranians are not yet thought to have hinted at any kind of deal or exchange to secure the release of the British personnel.Our correspondent said the Iranians are not yet thought to have hinted at any kind of deal or exchange to secure the release of the British personnel.
'Unjustified and wrong'
Instead, arguments had continued to focus on the exact position of the boats and whose waters they were in.Instead, arguments had continued to focus on the exact position of the boats and whose waters they were in.
Our correspondent said in part this could be because the personnel were taken by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the Iranian government as a whole may not yet have developed a unified position on how to proceed.Our correspondent said in part this could be because the personnel were taken by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the Iranian government as a whole may not yet have developed a unified position on how to proceed.
Prime Minister Tony Blair has called Iran's detention of the personnel "unjustified and wrong". US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has backed the British call for the personnel to be released, as has the EU.
"It simply is not true that they went into Iranian territorial waters and I hope the Iranian government understands how fundamental an issue this is for us," Mr Blair said. The capture took place as the UN Security Council voted unanimously in favour of further sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend its nuclear enrichment programme.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has backed the British call for the personnel to be released.
"We all fully trust the British on this, we think they ought to be released," she said.
"I don't think it helps for me to make very much comment on this but they ought to be released, and released immediately."
Nuclear programme
Germany, which holds the EU presidency, has also called for the immediate release of the Britons.
It is feared that the fate of those captured has become part of a wider crisis centring on Iran's nuclear programme, Gordon Corera added.
On Saturday, the UN Security Council voted unanimously in favour of further sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend its nuclear enrichment programme.
The seizure of the boarding party carries echoes of an incident in June 2004 when a group of eight marines and sailors were held for three days after being seized by the Iranians in the Shatt al-Arab waterway.
They were paraded blindfolded on television and later freed.
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