Saturday, April 07, 2007
Iranian ambassador calls press conference 'theatrical propaganda'
U.K., Iran, Security
(BBC) - Iran's ambassador to London has said Britain should respond "in a positive way" to the release of the 15 Royal Navy personnel held for 13 days. Rasoul Movahedian told the Financial Times Iran wanted help to release five Iranians held in Iraq and to ease fears globally about its nuclear programme. He said: "If they [the British] want to be helpful and use their influence we will welcome that. Iran has said a press conference where the crew described being bound and held alone was "theatrical propaganda" that did not justify their "mistake".
Mr Movahedian told the FT: "We played our part and we showed our good will... now it is up to the British government to proceed in a positive way," he said. He denied that the release of the crew was linked to the case of the Iranians being detained in Iraq or any other case. But he added: "If they [the British] want to be helpful and use their influence we will welcome that. "We will welcome in general any steps that could defuse tensions in the region."
But the BBC's Jill McGivering told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The key in all of this is how the US feels. "It is all very well talking about a plea for the UK to use its influence on the US but so far there are no signs from Washington at all that they give Iran any kind of credit for the way they have handled this." On Friday, at the Royal Marines Barracks at Chivenor, Devon, the crew said they were told by their captors that if they did not admit they were in Iranian waters when captured they faced seven years in prison.
The officer in charge, Lieutenant Felix Carman, 26, of Swansea, said the sailors and marines were 1.7 nautical miles from Iranian waters when they were captured. Royal Marine Captain Chris Air, 25, from Altrincham, Cheshire, said the crew had made it clear they were on a "routine operation allowed under a UN mandate" but that the Iranians had a "planned intent."
Lt Carman, said they were taken to a prison in Tehran where they were stripped and dressed in pyjamas. They were kept in stone cells, sleeping on blankets and held in isolation until the last few nights and frequently interrogated. The only woman in the group, Leading Seaman Faye Turney, believed for at least four days that she was the only one still being held. Royal Marine Joe Tindell told how they feared for their lives in prison.
"We had a blindfold and plastic cuffs, hands behind our backs, heads against the wall. Basically there were weapons cocking. Someone, I'm not sure who, someone said, I quote, 'lads, lads I think we're going to get executed'. After that comment someone was sick and as far as I was concerned he had just had his throat cut."
The BBC's Frances Harrison, in Tehran, said Iran feels the press conference revelations were the result of sailors "being briefed" by the UK government who "dictated to them [the sailors]". She pointed out that Iran said it was "standard procedure" for military personnel who intruded into Iran to be held in isolation, and said they compared their captivity to the way people are held at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
The navy is reviewing the circumstances surrounding the incident and the wider rules of engagement for UK forces operating in the area.
Mr Movahedian told the FT: "We played our part and we showed our good will... now it is up to the British government to proceed in a positive way," he said. He denied that the release of the crew was linked to the case of the Iranians being detained in Iraq or any other case. But he added: "If they [the British] want to be helpful and use their influence we will welcome that. "We will welcome in general any steps that could defuse tensions in the region."
But the BBC's Jill McGivering told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The key in all of this is how the US feels. "It is all very well talking about a plea for the UK to use its influence on the US but so far there are no signs from Washington at all that they give Iran any kind of credit for the way they have handled this." On Friday, at the Royal Marines Barracks at Chivenor, Devon, the crew said they were told by their captors that if they did not admit they were in Iranian waters when captured they faced seven years in prison.
The officer in charge, Lieutenant Felix Carman, 26, of Swansea, said the sailors and marines were 1.7 nautical miles from Iranian waters when they were captured. Royal Marine Captain Chris Air, 25, from Altrincham, Cheshire, said the crew had made it clear they were on a "routine operation allowed under a UN mandate" but that the Iranians had a "planned intent."
Lt Carman, said they were taken to a prison in Tehran where they were stripped and dressed in pyjamas. They were kept in stone cells, sleeping on blankets and held in isolation until the last few nights and frequently interrogated. The only woman in the group, Leading Seaman Faye Turney, believed for at least four days that she was the only one still being held. Royal Marine Joe Tindell told how they feared for their lives in prison.
"We had a blindfold and plastic cuffs, hands behind our backs, heads against the wall. Basically there were weapons cocking. Someone, I'm not sure who, someone said, I quote, 'lads, lads I think we're going to get executed'. After that comment someone was sick and as far as I was concerned he had just had his throat cut."
The BBC's Frances Harrison, in Tehran, said Iran feels the press conference revelations were the result of sailors "being briefed" by the UK government who "dictated to them [the sailors]". She pointed out that Iran said it was "standard procedure" for military personnel who intruded into Iran to be held in isolation, and said they compared their captivity to the way people are held at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
The navy is reviewing the circumstances surrounding the incident and the wider rules of engagement for UK forces operating in the area.
Labels: Chris Air, Faye Turney, Felix Carman, Iran, Iranian detainees, Joe Tindell, Rasoul Movahedian, Royal Marines Barracks Chivenor, Royal Navy, U.S.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Iran - Navy personnel may be charged
Security, Iran, U.K.
(BBC) - Fifteen Royal Navy personnel captured on Friday could be charged with illegally entering Iranian waters, officials in Iran have warned. Iran's foreign minister said the issue was "being considered legally" and suggested there may be charges. But Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett have insisted there was no violation of Iranian territory. The Foreign Office said it is continuing to press for access to the group, and information on them.
On Sunday the UK ambassador to Iran, Geoffrey Adams, met officials in Tehran but failed to find out where the eight sailors and seven marines were being held or to gain consular access. Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday said Iran's detention of the personnel was "unjustified and wrong". Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, speaking from New York on Sunday, said the captured Britons were involved in "the illegal entrance into Iranian territorial waters and this issue is being considered legally".
Students belonging to the paramilitary Basij group, which is close to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have called for the Britons to be put on trial. BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said that in a telephone call with Mrs Beckett, Mr Mottaki said consular access was not likely until the initial investigations had been concluded. Our correspondent said the Iranians were not yet thought to have hinted at any kind of deal or exchange to secure the release of the British personnel.
Instead, arguments had continued to focus on the exact position of the boats and whose waters they were in.
Our correspondent said in part this could be because the personnel were taken by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and the Iranian government as a whole may not yet have developed a unified position on how to proceed.
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".
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has backed the British call for the personnel to be released, as has the EU. The capture took place as the UN Security Council voted unanimously in favour of further sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend its nuclear enrichment programme. Three years ago, eight British servicemen were detained by Iran after a similar confrontation. In the current incident, 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.
On Sunday the UK ambassador to Iran, Geoffrey Adams, met officials in Tehran but failed to find out where the eight sailors and seven marines were being held or to gain consular access. Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday said Iran's detention of the personnel was "unjustified and wrong". Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, speaking from New York on Sunday, said the captured Britons were involved in "the illegal entrance into Iranian territorial waters and this issue is being considered legally".
Students belonging to the paramilitary Basij group, which is close to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have called for the Britons to be put on trial. BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said that in a telephone call with Mrs Beckett, Mr Mottaki said consular access was not likely until the initial investigations had been concluded. Our correspondent said the Iranians were not yet thought to have hinted at any kind of deal or exchange to secure the release of the British personnel.
Instead, arguments had continued to focus on the exact position of the boats and whose waters they were in.
Our correspondent said in part this could be because the personnel were taken by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and the Iranian government as a whole may not yet have developed a unified position on how to proceed.
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".
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has backed the British call for the personnel to be released, as has the EU. The capture took place as the UN Security Council voted unanimously in favour of further sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend its nuclear enrichment programme. Three years ago, eight British servicemen were detained by Iran after a similar confrontation. In the current incident, 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.
Labels: Iran, Manouchehr Mottaki, Royal Navy, Shatt al-Arab, U.K.
