British sailors ‘confessed’

TEHRAN – Iran said yesterday all 15 British sailors it detained last month had confessed to illegally entering its waters, and broadcast new pictures of two servicemen apparently admitting to their error.

The naval personnel, who were captured in the northern Gulf on March 23, had ‘all confessed that they illegally entered Iranian territorial waters’, state television said, without giving further details The detention of the 14 men and one woman has further poisoned relations between Iran and the West at time of mounting international impatience with the Islamic republic over its refusal to rein in its contested nuclear programme. With diplomatic efforts to solve the standoff still making no headway, Iran infuriated Britain by broadcasting images of two of the detainees pointing to a map and saying how they ‘apparently’ intruded into Iranian waters, said one of the men, Captain Chris Air.”So far we have been treated very well by the people here.They have looked after us and given us enough food,” said Air, dressed in military fatigues with his sleeves rolled up.As he spoke, Air pointed with a pen to pictures of their frigate and speedboats stuck on to the maps and an area with the handwritten legend “the point where the intruding boats were captured.”Iranian television had on Sunday shown the pictures without the original sound but yesterday’s news bulletins showed the navy personnel talking in English with Farsi subtitles.Television also showed new pictures of several of the servicemen sitting down, chatting and apparently smiling as well as the Global Positioning System (GPS) devices that were found with them.Britain, which insists the 15 were on a routine anti-smuggling patrol in Iraqi waters, again protested at the sailors being paraded on state television.”It’s unacceptable for these pictures to be shown,” the Foreign Office said.Following Air on the video was Lieutenant Felix Carman, who also spoke to the camera, saying: “Yes, I’d like to say to the Iranian people, I can understand why you were so angry about our intrusion into your waters.”Britain, which unlike the United States has diplomatic relations with Iran and maintains a substantial embassy in Tehran, has said it is continuing bilateral contacts with Iranian officials to resolve the standoff.Nampa-AFPWith diplomatic efforts to solve the standoff still making no headway, Iran infuriated Britain by broadcasting images of two of the detainees pointing to a map and saying how they ‘apparently’ intruded into Iranian waters, said one of the men, Captain Chris Air.”So far we have been treated very well by the people here.They have looked after us and given us enough food,” said Air, dressed in military fatigues with his sleeves rolled up.As he spoke, Air pointed with a pen to pictures of their frigate and speedboats stuck on to the maps and an area with the handwritten legend “the point where the intruding boats were captured.”Iranian television had on Sunday shown the pictures without the original sound but yesterday’s news bulletins showed the navy personnel talking in English with Farsi subtitles.Television also showed new pictures of several of the servicemen sitting down, chatting and apparently smiling as well as the Global Positioning System (GPS) devices that were found with them.Britain, which insists the 15 were on a routine anti-smuggling patrol in Iraqi waters, again protested at the sailors being paraded on state television.”It’s unacceptable for these pictures to be shown,” the Foreign Office said.Following Air on the video was Lieutenant Felix Carman, who also spoke to the camera, saying: “Yes, I’d like to say to the Iranian people, I can understand why you were so angry about our intrusion into your waters.”Britain, which unlike the United States has diplomatic relations with Iran and maintains a substantial embassy in Tehran, has said it is continuing bilateral contacts with Iranian officials to resolve the standoff.Nampa-AFP