Britain in dark over seized sailors

LONDON – British officials do not know where Iran is holding 15 sailors and marines captured in the Persian Gulf, and requests for access to them have been denied, the Foreign Office said yesterday as Tehran again protested what it called their illegal entry into Iranian waters.

The British ambassador to Iran met with senior officials at the Iranian Foreign Ministry and demanded the immediate release of the captured personnel, the Foreign Office said. Iranian State TV said the ministry summoned Ambassador Geoffrey Adams “to protest the illegal entry of British sailors into Iranian territorial waters.”It gave no details about the meeting.Iran’s top military official, General Ali Reza Afshar, said on Saturday the seized Britons were taken to Tehran for questioning and had confessed to what he called an ‘aggression into the Islamic Republic of Iran’s waters’.He did not say what would happen to them but said all were being treated well and were in good health.The Foreign Office said Sunday that British requests for access to the 15 Britons have been denied.Tehran has described the incident as a “blatant aggression” but Britain has repeatedly insisted the sailors were in Iraqi waters in the Shatt al Arab waterway between Iraq and Iran.Lord Triesman, a Foreign Office under-secretary who had held talks with Iran’s ambassador on Saturday, told Sky News the issue of whether the sailors had strayed into Iranian waters was a technical one.”I’ve been very clear throughout that the British forces do not ever intentionally enter into Iranian waters,” he said.”There’s no reason for them to do so, we don’t intend to do so and I think people should accept there’s good faith in those assertions.””We believe there’s good strong evidence that they were in Iraqi water at the time,” Triesman said.”That’s a technical issue and I think it could be resolved as a technical issue.”We don’t (know where the military personnel are) and I wish we did but we asking to know whether they are being moved around inside Iran.Britain and the EU have been pushing hard diplomatically to secure the sailors’ release.The British Foreign Office summoned the Iranian ambassador to London on Saturday, the second time such summons in two days, and Germany, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, got its ambassador in Tehran to raised the issue with the Iranian government.Nampa-APIranian State TV said the ministry summoned Ambassador Geoffrey Adams “to protest the illegal entry of British sailors into Iranian territorial waters.”It gave no details about the meeting.Iran’s top military official, General Ali Reza Afshar, said on Saturday the seized Britons were taken to Tehran for questioning and had confessed to what he called an ‘aggression into the Islamic Republic of Iran’s waters’.He did not say what would happen to them but said all were being treated well and were in good health.The Foreign Office said Sunday that British requests for access to the 15 Britons have been denied.Tehran has described the incident as a “blatant aggression” but Britain has repeatedly insisted the sailors were in Iraqi waters in the Shatt al Arab waterway between Iraq and Iran.Lord Triesman, a Foreign Office under-secretary who had held talks with Iran’s ambassador on Saturday, told Sky News the issue of whether the sailors had strayed into Iranian waters was a technical one.”I’ve been very clear throughout that the British forces do not ever intentionally enter into Iranian waters,” he said.”There’s no reason for them to do so, we don’t intend to do so and I think people should accept there’s good faith in those assertions.””We believe there’s good strong evidence that they were in Iraqi water at the time,” Triesman said.”That’s a technical issue and I think it could be resolved as a technical issue.”We don’t (know where the military personnel are) and I wish we did but we asking to know whether they are being moved around inside Iran.Britain and the EU have been pushing hard diplomatically to secure the sailors’ release.The British Foreign Office summoned the Iranian ambassador to London on Saturday, the second time such summons in two days, and Germany, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, got its ambassador in Tehran to raised the issue with the Iranian government.Nampa-AP