Iran to prosecute 8 British sailors Paul Hughes

TEHRAN, – Iran will prosecute eight British sailors seized after apparently straying into Iranian waters on the Iraqi border, Iran’s al Alam television said yesterday.

The British government immediately demanded an explanation from Tehran on the report. British officials have not been given access to the men, detained on Monday with their three boats, and have not been told where they are being held.Quoting unnamed Iranian military sources, al Alam said the eight men were to be prosecuted on charges of “illegally entering Iran’s waters”.”The British military officials were arrested after they entered 1,000 metres into Iranian waters.The British confessed that they were arrested when they were inside Iran’s waters,” it added.The incident — the latest in a string of boat seizures in the Gulf area by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards — is the most serious between Iran and foreign forces operating in Iraq and is likely to complicate already difficult relations between Tehran and London.A Foreign Office spokesman in London said British officials were “trying to get the Iranians to explain” the report on prosecuting the men.”They have got to come up with some answers to our questions and we are pressing them for answers,” he said.Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jack Straw spoke by telephone with his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi on Tuesday morning.NO WORD ON POSSIBLE RELEASEThe Foreign Office declined to give any details of the talks and could not say whether there had any been any progress on getting the Britons released.A spokeswoman for the British Embassy in Tehran said British diplomats had requested permission to visit the detained men.”We have asked for full details on who is holding them, where they are and for access to them,” she said.Al Alam broadcast footage yesterday showing the eight British men dressed in military fatigues sitting in a room.It said their small patrol boats contained weapons, cameras for spying and detailed maps of areas in Iraq and Iran.None of the Britons spoke during the broadcast.Iran’s Foreign Ministry has said the men are being interrogated to ascertain why they entered Iranian waters.Tehran has given no indication of when they may be released.The incident occurred in the Shatt al-Arab, a narrow waterway that separates southwestern Iran from Iraq.Britain’s Defence Ministry said the Britons had been in the area to help train Iraqi security forces and had been delivering a small craft to the Iraqi Riverine Patrol Service when arrested.The boats had been carrying only the sailors’ personal weapons, it said.Revolutionary Guards spokesman Massoud Jazaeri told Reuters that Iran was determined to defend its territory.”Anyone from any nationality entering our waters will face the same response,” he said.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, a branch of the armed forces charged with defending Iran’s Islamic revolution, earlier this month seized some eight fishing vessels from the United Arab Emirates in a tit-for-tat measure after the Emirates detained an Iranian boat which had strayed into its waters.- Nampa-ReutersBritish officials have not been given access to the men, detained on Monday with their three boats, and have not been told where they are being held.Quoting unnamed Iranian military sources, al Alam said the eight men were to be prosecuted on charges of “illegally entering Iran’s waters”.”The British military officials were arrested after they entered 1,000 metres into Iranian waters.The British confessed that they were arrested when they were inside Iran’s waters,” it added.The incident — the latest in a string of boat seizures in the Gulf area by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards — is the most serious between Iran and foreign forces operating in Iraq and is likely to complicate already difficult relations between Tehran and London.A Foreign Office spokesman in London said British officials were “trying to get the Iranians to explain” the report on prosecuting the men.”They have got to come up with some answers to our questions and we are pressing them for answers,” he said.Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jack Straw spoke by telephone with his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi on Tuesday morning.NO WORD ON POSSIBLE RELEASEThe Foreign Office declined to give any details of the talks and could not say whether there had any been any progress on getting the Britons released.A spokeswoman for the British Embassy in Tehran said British diplomats had requested permission to visit the detained men.”We have asked for full details on who is holding them, where they are and for access to them,” she said.Al Alam broadcast footage yesterday showing the eight British men dressed in military fatigues sitting in a room.It said their small patrol boats contained weapons, cameras for spying and detailed maps of areas in Iraq and Iran.None of the Britons spoke during the broadcast.Iran’s Foreign Ministry has said the men are being interrogated to ascertain why they entered Iranian waters.Tehran has given no indication of when they may be released.The incident occurred in the Shatt al-Arab, a narrow waterway that separates southwestern Iran from Iraq.Britain’s Defence Ministry said the Britons had been in the area to help train Iraqi security forces and had been delivering a small craft to the Iraqi Riverine Patrol Service when arrested.The boats had been carrying only the sailors’ personal weapons, it said.Revolutionary Guards spokesman Massoud Jazaeri told Reuters that Iran was determined to defend its territory.”Anyone from any nationality entering our waters will face the same response,” he said.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, a branch of the armed forces charged with defending Iran’s Islamic revolution, earlier this month seized some eight fishing vessels from the United Arab Emirates in a tit-for-tat measure after the Emirates detained an Iranian boat which had strayed into its waters.- Nampa-Reuters