Iranians capture Brit force as they hunt smugglers
By James Lyons
Daily Record (Scotland) – Fifteen Royal Navy sailors and Marines were prisoners of Iran last night after fanatical Revolutionary Guards seized them at gunpoint in the Persian Gulf. Six Iranian gunboats surrounded the men, who were on a routine patrol in two small inflatable craft. The Revolutionary Guards took their prisoners to an Iranian naval base.
In a brief radio conversation, the Iranians told the Royal Navy that the men had been seized for trespassing in their territorial waters. But the commander of the frigate wher the men are based, HMS Cornwall, was adamant that they were operating legally in Iraqi territory.
There was no word from Iranian leaders on why the sailors were taken. But observers fear that the regime, under fire over its nuclear programme and backing of rebels in Iraq, will try to use the prisoners as bargaining chips to extract concessions from the West.
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said she was "extremely disturbed" by the Iranians’ actions. She added: "We have asked for a full explanation, and we are leaving them in no doubt that we want the immediate and safe return of our personnel and their equipment." Iran’s ambassador in London was summoned to the Foreign Office for a 20-minute meeting with a senior official.
The eight sailors and seven Marines are based on Frigate HMS Cornwall, the flagship of a British force patrolling the northern Gulf to prevent smuggling and protect Iraqi oil rigs. They set sail from the Cornwall at about 10am and had just finished searching a cargo ship for smuggled cars when the Iranians appeared and surrounded them.
It happened in the Gulf near the mouth of the Shatt-al-Arab, the disputed waterway which runs between Iraq and Iran. The commander of HMS Cornwall, Commodore Nick Lambert, said he hoped the incident would turn out to be "a simple misunderstanding". He added "There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that my people were in Iraqi waters. Equally, the Iranians may claim they were in Iranian waters."
Commodore Lambert added: "We had a helicopter in the area. Our understanding from that is that the boarding party returned to its boats, which were then promptly arrested. "The helicopter reported that they saw the boats being moved up the Shatt-al-Arab towards an Iranian base."
No shots were fired during the sailors’ capture. Commodore Lambert said: "They reacted in an extremely professional way. I look forward to seeing them on their return and congratulating them."
The American navy also insisted that the sailors were operating in Iraqi waters. And a senior officer told how a US vessel listened into the short radio exchange between the Royal Navy and the Iranians. Commander Kevin Aandahl of the US Fifth Fleet said: "The Iranians said no harm had come to any personnel and they were being taken to a place of safety.ûThe Iranians claimed the sailors were operating inside Iranian waters. "The Royal Navy replied that they were well inside Iraqi waters and that was the end of the conversation."
Iranian TV later repeated the claim that the British were guilty of trespassing. No Iranian ministers were available for comment. Government offices across Iran were closed for the Persian new year.
Beckett was following the crisis from her constituency home in Derbyshire. Prime Minister Tony Blair was being kept informed of developments. The latest crisis between Britain and Iran could hardly have come at a more sensitive time.
Hardline Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was on his way to the United Nations in New York last night to plead his country’s case over its nuclear programme. The UN Security Council are discussing whether to extend sanctions imposed on Iran in December after it refused to give up its nuclear ambitions. Ahmadinejad wants to have his say before the council decides.
The West accuses Iran of trying to build a atomic bomb. Ahmadinejad insists he only wants to use nuclear energy peacefully.
Opponents of the Islamic regime in Iran claimed that the capture of the sailors was linked to the nuclear crisis.
Hossain Abedini, of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said: "By seizing British Marines, the dictatorship is, in an act of desperation, trying to put pressure on Western nations to prevent the adoption of a second Security Council resolution.
"Through such hollow shows of force, the mullahs are trying to cover up the increasing levels of internal turmoil they are facing. and the wave of public discontent which has arisen in Iran in recent months."
Britain has been America’s leading ally in calling for tougher sanctions on Iran. And the two countries also accuse Tehran of supporting the Shia Muslim insurgents attacking and killing their soldiers in Iraq. British commanders in Basra accuse the Iranians of training Shia terrorists and supplying the roadside bombs used to blow up Army vehicles in the city. Iran denies the charge.
The Americans also believe Iran is actively supporting the insurgents. They arrested five Iranians last month in the Kurdish city of Irbil and accused them of being senior members of the Revolutionary Guards.
Tehran insists the men were diplomats and is demanding their return. Some experts fear that the Revolutionary Guards might try to exchange the captured British sailors for the Irbil prisoners.
