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Iran softens on detained Brits
27/03/2007 10:07 - (SA)
Tehran - Iran said it was questioning 15 British sailors and marines to determine if their alleged entry into Iranian waters was "intentional or unintentional" before deciding what to do with them - the first sign it could be seeking a way out of the standoff.
The two countries continued to disagree about where the military personnel were seized on Friday, with Britain insisting they were in Iraqi waters after searching a civilian cargo vessel and the Tehran regime saying it had proof they were in Iranian territory.
Britain's defence ministry said on Monday they were seized in the Shatt al-Arab, a waterway flowing into the Persian Gulf that marks the border between Iran and Iraq. But the exact path of the dividing line in the waterway, known in Iran as the Arvand river, has long been disputed.
The Iranian emphasis on Monday on the detainees' intent was a noticeable pullback from the certainty expressed on Saturday by Iran's military chief, General Ali Reza Afshar, who said then that the 15 confessed to "aggression into the Islamic Republic of Iran's waters".
Other Iranian officials suggested afterward that the Britons might be charged with a crime - presumably espionage or trespassing - for knowingly entering Iran's territorial waters.
Softer line
Deputy foreign minister Mehzi Mostafavi took a softer line on Monday while saying that the 14 men and one woman were still being interrogated.
"It should become clear whether their entry was intentional or unintentional. After that is clarified, the necessary decision will be made," Mostafavi said.
Iran has refused to say where the captured Britons were being held or to allow British officials to speak with them, but assured the British ambassador to Tehran, Geoffrey Adams, that they were in good health.
During an official visit to Turkey on Monday, British foreign secretary Margaret Beckett called for Iran to allow access to the captives.
"We're pressing the Iranian government at a variety of levels to give us details of where our personnel are being held ," Beckett said upon her arrival in Ankara. She emphasised that the captured sailors were operating in Iraqi, not Iranian waters.
In London, Iranian ambassador Rasoul Movahedian was summoned to the British foreign office for the third time since the standoff began. Lord Triesman, foreign office undersecretary, again demanded the safe return of the detained personnel, the foreign office said.
- AP
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