Iran wants UK 'behaviour change'

Iran has held 15 British sailors and marines since March 23 for "trespassing" [AFP]

April 01, 2007

Iran says it's waiting for Britain to change its behaviour over the detention of 15 British sailors and marines last week in the Gulf.

Quoted on state TV, Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian foreign minister, said his government was waiting for Britain to show a balanced stance over Iran's legal demands.

The Iranians have demanded an apology which acknowledges the troops illegally entered Iran's territorial waters.

Britain denies the accusation and says the sailors were seized in Iraqi waters.

Basra shootings

Iran also sent a letter to the British embassy in Tehran on Saturday complaining about shots fired by British troops near its consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.

Iran previously accused British forces of surrounding the consulate on Thursday and firing into the air in a provocative act. The British military denied any aggressive action.

Iran's ISNA news agency on Sunday quoted a foreign ministry official as saying: "Iran asked Britain to prevent any such actions from happening again and asked for the British soldiers in Iraq to respect international regulations applied to diplomatic places".

The British military said the shots heard came from a British convoy that was ambushed in the same street as the consulate in central Basra.

International row

Weighing into the growing international row on the capture of the Royal Navy sailors for the first time, George Bush, the US president, on Saturday demanded Iran release the sailors.

Bush, at a news conference, said: "I support the Blair government's attempts to resolve this peacefully. And I support the prime minister when he made it clear there were no quid pro quos. The Iranians must give back the hostages.

"The British hostages issue is a serious issue because the Iranians took these people out of Iraqi water, and it's inexcusable behaviour."

Ali Reza, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Tehran, said Bush's use of the term "hostages" will likely further infuriate Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, Iran's president, who has labelled Britain as "arrogant" for failing to apologise.

Reza said: "Demands from the European Union that they are freed immediately and unconditionally, are only antagonising the situation".

Mohammad Ali Hosseini, a spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry, said: "The recent stance of the European Union officials regarding this issue will not help in solving the problem, but instead it will complicate the issue and might even make it last even longer."

And after Iran's ambassador to Russia said the 15 could be tried for violating international law, Britain confirmed on Saturday it had sent a letter of response to accusations of "trespassing" in Iranian waters.

Mediation offer

Terry Waite, who was held captive for almost five years in Lebanon the country's civil war, has offered to his services to help settle the issue.

Speaking to Al Jazeera on Saturday, Waite said: "I would hope that the Iranians would behave in the same courteous way to me as they've behaved before, would perhaps give me access to the people they've detained just to be assured of their welfare, so that that could be conveyed to their families, and begin to see if we can find a sensible way through this problem."

However, Reza reports, Tehran is remains defiant that what the sailors did was wrong, that they have confessed to their actions, and foreign interference will achieve little to secure the sailors' release.

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Note:

So far all film on this situation is being debated back and forth between the British and Iran as what is propaganda and what is not.

Please use your own initiative of what is correct.

Latest report on the growing tensions between Iran and the UK over the British soldiers Iran is holding hostage, and using for propaganda. (March 28).

Watch the footage and hear sailor Faye Turney's message home here.

Iran releases new video of a captured British sailor's 'confession'. (March 30)

Text of the letter allegedly written by captured British sailor Faye Turney Wednesday, as provided by the Iranian Embassy in London.

Dear Mum & Dad,

I am writing to you from Iran where I am being held. I will try to explain to you the best what has happened. We were out in the boats when we were arrested by Iranian forces as we had apparently gone into Iranian waters. I wish we hadn't because then I'd be home with you all right now. I am so sorry we did, because I know we wouldn't be here now if we hadn't. I want you all to know that I am well and safe.

I am being well looked after. I am fed three meals a day and have a constant supply of fluids.

The people are friendly and hospitable, very compassionate and warm.

I have written a letter to the Iranian people to apologize for us entering into their waters.

Please don't worry about me, I am staying strong. Hopefully it won't be long until I am home to get ready for Molly's birthday party with a present from the Iranian people.

Look after everyone for me, especially Adam and Molly.

I love you all more than you will ever know.

All my love,

Faye

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Update:

Blair denies Iran 'deal'

Ahmadinejad said the release of the personnel was a gift to the British people [AFP]

April 5, 2007


Tony Blair, the British prime minister, has said that the release of 15 Navy personnel held by Iran since March 23 was secured "without any deal".

The British leader made the remarks on Thursday just after a plane carrying the 15 from Iran landed at Heathrow airport in London.

They were freed "without any deal, without any negotiation, without any side agreement of any nature," Blair said, making a statement outside his London office.

On Wednesday, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, said the 15 were to be 'pardoned' and released.

"Under the influence of the Muslim Prophet, [Iran] forgives these 15 people and gives their freedom to the British people as a gift," Ahmadinejad told a news conference on Wednesday.

Ahmadinejad also told the news conference that Britain was not "brave enough" to admit it had made a mistake in the standoff, which began when Tehran seized the 15 in the Shatt al-Arab waterway between Iraq and Iran on March 23.

The 15 were again shown on Iranian television before their departure, celebrating and again apologising for entering Iranian waters.

Their release coincides with the release in Baghdad of an Iranian diplomat seized in early February.

Iran had blamed US forces for the abduction but the US denied involvement.

Iranian state media also said five Iranian officials captured by US forces in northern Iraq in January were expected to receive their first visit by an Iranian diplomat soon.

British welcome

The 15 British personnel, seized by Iran on March 23, have been held for 13 days.

Tony Blair, the British prime minister, welcomed the decision to free the personnel and thanked allies in Europe, the UN Security Council and the Middle East for their help.

He said Britain had taken "a measured approach, firm but calm, not negotiating but not confronting either" in the negotiations.

Blair also said the situation had opened up "new and interesting" lines of communication between Britain and Iran.

Iran is also presenting the release of the personnel as a diplomatic victory.

Territorial integrity


Ali Akbar Velayati, a former foreign minister and now advisor to supreme leader Ali Khamenei, said Iran had achieved its objectives in the crisis.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran showed that it will defend its territorial integrity and has no fear," he said.

The decision to release the detainees came after Iran acknowledged a "change of tone" from Britain following talks between Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, and Nigel Sheinwald, Blair's chief foreign policy adviser, late on Tuesday.

Iran had insisted that they key to resolving the crisis was an admission from Britain that the sailors and marines did intrude into Iranian territorial waters when they were seized.

Britain maintains the group was carrying out routine anti-smuggling operations in Iraqi waters in line with a UN mandate, but Iran says the sailors' Global Positioning System (GPS) devices show they intruded into Iranian waters.

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