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Seized sailors are 'fit and well' | |
(about 2 hours later) | |
The 15 Royal Navy personnel who were seized four days ago are fit and well, Iran has told the Foreign Office. | |
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. | |
He said Iran was "working to resolve the matter as soon as possible". | |
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. | |
Escalation | |
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. | |
HMS Cornwall's area of operations | HMS Cornwall's area of operations |
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. | |
The Iranian state news agency IRNA said Mr Rahimpour told Mr Adams that the 14 men and one woman could face legal proceedings. | |
It claimed he expressed concern about the escalation of tensions following the US occupation of Iraq which created security problems on Iran's borders. | |
And after "contradictory statements" over the seizure of the Britons, the case "required an inquiry into such suspicious events". | |
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. | |
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 | |
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 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 comments | 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 comments |
Students belonging to the paramilitary Basij group, which is close to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have called for them to be put on trial. | |
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". |
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