This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk/6494289.stm

The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 4 Version 5
Iraq urges Iran to free sailors Seized sailors are 'fit and well'
(about 2 hours later)
Iraq's foreign minister has urged his Iranian counterpart to free 15 Royal Navy personnel captured four days ago. The 15 Royal Navy personnel who were seized four days ago are fit and well, Iran has told the Foreign Office.
Iran says they could be charged with illegally entering Iranian waters. A senior Iranian official told the UK's ambassador in Tehran that the Britons were being held in Iran but would not disclose their exact location.
But in a telephone call on Sunday night Iraqi foreign minister Hoshiyar Zebari told Iran's Manoshahr Mutakki that the Britons were in Iraqi waters. He said Iran was "working to resolve the matter as soon as possible".
Tony Blair said that Britain is "utterly confident" that the naval personnel were in Iraqi waters and he repeated his call for their release. Iran says the Britons could be charged with illegally entering Iranian waters, although both Iraq and the UK insist that they were in an Iraqi area.
The Iraqi foreign minister said is a statement that "according to the information available to the Iraqi authorities those soldiers were detained inside Iraqi waters". Escalation
The statement says: "They were working with the multi-national forces with the approval of the Iraqi government and according to UN Security Council resolutions. British ambassador Geoffrey Adams was assured that the eight sailors and seven marines were well during an hour-long meeting on Monday with Ebrahim Rahimpour, a senior official at the Iranian foreign ministry in Tehran.
"The minister called for the release of the detainees and to deal with this case in a wise way."
The Foreign Office said it is continuing to press for access to the group, and information on them.
'Spies'
On Sunday the UK ambassador to Iran, Geoffrey Adams, met officials in Tehran but failed to find out where the eight sailors and seven marines were being held or to gain consular access.
HMS Cornwall's area of operationsHMS Cornwall's area of operations
Three years ago, eight British servicemen were detained by Iran after a similar confrontation. Mr Rahimpour agreed to stay in close touch with the British embassy but declined to say what plans Iran had for their release, according to a statement from the Foreign Office.
Former Marine Scott Fallon was one of those captured. The Iranian state news agency IRNA said Mr Rahimpour told Mr Adams that the 14 men and one woman could face legal proceedings.
He told BBC Radio Five Live he was subjected to mock executions and accused of spying. It claimed he expressed concern about the escalation of tensions following the US occupation of Iraq which created security problems on Iran's borders.
"They just wanted to know our mission - why we were there, why we were in Iran. And after "contradictory statements" over the seizure of the Britons, the case "required an inquiry into such suspicious events".
"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. Mr Adams's meeting with Iranian officials was the second in two days in which he tried to get consular access to the navy personnel.
"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". The minister called for the release of the detainees and to deal with this case in a wise way Iraq's foreign ministry class="" href="/1/hi/business/6494919.stm">Tensions push oil above $63
'Unjustified and wrong' It came as Tony Blair said that Britain is "utterly confident" that the naval personnel were in Iraqi waters and he repeated his call for their release.
In the current incident, the Britons, who include one woman, were seized at gunpoint after inspecting an Iraqi boat and returning to their two small boats to head back to HMS Cornwall. In a telephone call on Sunday night, Iraqi foreign minister Hoshiyar Zebari told his Iranian counterpart Manoshahr Mutakki that the Britons had been in Iraqi waters when captured.
Mr Zebari said they were working with the multi-national forces with the approval of the Iraqi government and according to UN Security Council resolutions.
Iraq's foreign ministry added: "The minister called for the release of the detainees and to deal with this case in a wise way."
The Britons, who include one woman, 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
Iran says they were trespassing in Iranian waters, which the UK denies - insisting they were in Iraqi territory on a routine patrol. Students belonging to the paramilitary Basij group, which is close to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have called for them to be put on trial.
Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday said Iran's detention of the personnel was "unjustified and wrong".
Mr Mutakki, 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.
'No deal hint'
BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said that in a telephone call with Mrs Beckett, Mr Mottaki said consular access was not likely until the initial investigations had been concluded.
Our correspondent said the Iranians were not yet thought to have hinted at any kind of deal or exchange to secure the release of the British personnel.
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.
'Escalation' fear
Dr Ali Pahlavan, the executive editor of Iran News - the only independent paper in Tehran - told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the "ultra conservative" Revolutionary Guard believed that Britain and the US needed to be challenged.Dr Ali Pahlavan, the executive editor of Iran News - the only independent paper in Tehran - told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the "ultra conservative" Revolutionary Guard believed that Britain and the US needed to be challenged.
"This could be part of the strategy to challenge British and American supremacy in this part of the world - which is troubling, because this could lead to confrontation and this could be a trigger and could lead to escalation"."This could be part of the strategy to challenge British and American supremacy in this part of the world - which is troubling, because this could lead to confrontation and this could be a trigger and could lead to escalation".
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has backed the British call for the personnel to be released, as has the EU.
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.
Return to topReturn to top