The Cellar - View Single Post - Options limited in Iran stand-off

TheMercenary · 03-28-2007, 10:15 AM

From Times OnlineMarch 28, 2007

UK hits back over sailors detained by Iran

(Stefan Rousseau/PA)
Vice-Admiral Charles Style in front of nautical charts showing the exact position of the Marines and sailors when they were "ambushed"

Philippe Naughton
Britain moved to ratchet up the pressure on Iran today over what Tony Blair called its "illegal" seizure of 15 Royal Navy personnel in the Gulf last Friday, freezing all ties with Tehran until the crisis is resolved and the group released.

After five days of discreet but fruitless diplomacy, the offensive began with a press conference at the MoD at which Vice-Admiral Charles Style published satellite coordinates proving that seven Royal Marines and eight sailors were 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi waters when they were "ambushed".

He was backed up by the Prime Minister and by Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, who told MPs that Britain was immediately freezing all bilateral ties with Iran - except for contacts directly concerning the seized personnel.

"They should not be under any doubt at all about how seriously we regard this act, which is unjustified and wrong," Mrs Beckett said.

Vice-Admiral Style, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff, displayed nautical charts showing the position of the group when they were seized. Vice-Admiral Style said that their coordinates had been confirmed by the skipper of an Indian-registered merchant vessel that the sailors had just inspected when they were seized.

Leading Seaman Faye Turney, a 26-year-old mother, was the only woman in the group andTurkey’s private CNN Turk television network today quoted Iran’s foreign minister as saying Tehran would release a woman sailor detained with 14 other British servicemen “today or tomorrow”.

“The British woman soldier detained will be set free today or tomorrow,” it quoted Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki as saying.

The Navy chief said that the group were engaged in routine anti-smuggling patrols under a UN Security Council mandate at the time, operating with the authorisation of Baghdad.

Vice-Admiral Style also accused the Iranians of having changed their story over the weekend after being told that the coordinates Tehran initially gave for the incident showed that the patrol boats were in Iraqi waters.

"It is hard to understand a legitimate reason for this change of coordinates," he said. "In any case, we unambiguously contest both coordinates given by the Iranians."

Minutes after the MoD press conference, the Prime Minister told the Commons that Britain was mobilising international support to show Iran how isolated it was. Mr Blair described the seizure as “completely unacceptable, wrong and illegal”.

Responding to a question from David Cameron, the Conservative leader, about the rules of engagement the patrols were operating under, Mr Blair said that the sailors and Marines could have used force in self defence. But he was was quite satisfied that they had taken the right decision in not drawing their arms after being surrounded by six heavily armed Iranian Republic Guard vessels.

"If they had engaged in military combat at the stage, there would undoubtedly have been severe loss of life," he said.

Mr Blair added by the time the crew of HMS Cornwall realised that the 15 had been detained and a Lynx helicopter dispatched to find them, they were already in Iranian waters - making intervention that much more dangerous.

The vice-admiral said that far from being inside Iranian waters, the two boats were 1.7 nautical miles - almost two land miles - inside the Iraqi part of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which forms the border between Iran and Iraq.

Their exact postition - 29' 50.36" N, 048' 43.08"E - was confirmed by a Global Positioning System (GPS) on one of the small patrol boats that was displayed on the Cornwall. It had also been confirmed on a subsequent fly-past of the site.

In a statement to the Commons, Mrs Beckett said that the Government had tried to deal with the crisis through "private, but robust diplomacy". When the Iranians' mistake over the coordinates had been established, she had suggested to her Iranian counterpart that the situation "could be easily resolved" by releasing the detained Britons.

But it was now clear that a change of tack was needed. Accordingly, Britain was mobilising d Site is currently unavailable .Please come back later

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle1579646.ece

03-28-2007, 10:15 AM	#2
TheMercenary “Hypocrisy: prejudice with a halo” Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Savannah, Georgia Posts: 21,393	From Times OnlineMarch 28, 2007 UK hits back over sailors detained by Iran (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Vice-Admiral Charles Style in front of nautical charts showing the exact position of the Marines and sailors when they were "ambushed" Philippe Naughton Britain moved to ratchet up the pressure on Iran today over what Tony Blair called its "illegal" seizure of 15 Royal Navy personnel in the Gulf last Friday, freezing all ties with Tehran until the crisis is resolved and the group released. After five days of discreet but fruitless diplomacy, the offensive began with a press conference at the MoD at which Vice-Admiral Charles Style published satellite coordinates proving that seven Royal Marines and eight sailors were 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi waters when they were "ambushed". He was backed up by the Prime Minister and by Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, who told MPs that Britain was immediately freezing all bilateral ties with Iran - except for contacts directly concerning the seized personnel. "They should not be under any doubt at all about how seriously we regard this act, which is unjustified and wrong," Mrs Beckett said. Vice-Admiral Style, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff, displayed nautical charts showing the position of the group when they were seized. Vice-Admiral Style said that their coordinates had been confirmed by the skipper of an Indian-registered merchant vessel that the sailors had just inspected when they were seized. Leading Seaman Faye Turney, a 26-year-old mother, was the only woman in the group andTurkey’s private CNN Turk television network today quoted Iran’s foreign minister as saying Tehran would release a woman sailor detained with 14 other British servicemen “today or tomorrow”. “The British woman soldier detained will be set free today or tomorrow,” it quoted Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki as saying. The Navy chief said that the group were engaged in routine anti-smuggling patrols under a UN Security Council mandate at the time, operating with the authorisation of Baghdad. Vice-Admiral Style also accused the Iranians of having changed their story over the weekend after being told that the coordinates Tehran initially gave for the incident showed that the patrol boats were in Iraqi waters. "It is hard to understand a legitimate reason for this change of coordinates," he said. "In any case, we unambiguously contest both coordinates given by the Iranians." Minutes after the MoD press conference, the Prime Minister told the Commons that Britain was mobilising international support to show Iran how isolated it was. Mr Blair described the seizure as “completely unacceptable, wrong and illegal”. Responding to a question from David Cameron, the Conservative leader, about the rules of engagement the patrols were operating under, Mr Blair said that the sailors and Marines could have used force in self defence. But he was was quite satisfied that they had taken the right decision in not drawing their arms after being surrounded by six heavily armed Iranian Republic Guard vessels. "If they had engaged in military combat at the stage, there would undoubtedly have been severe loss of life," he said. Mr Blair added by the time the crew of HMS Cornwall realised that the 15 had been detained and a Lynx helicopter dispatched to find them, they were already in Iranian waters - making intervention that much more dangerous. The vice-admiral said that far from being inside Iranian waters, the two boats were 1.7 nautical miles - almost two land miles - inside the Iraqi part of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which forms the border between Iran and Iraq. Their exact postition - 29' 50.36" N, 048' 43.08"E - was confirmed by a Global Positioning System (GPS) on one of the small patrol boats that was displayed on the Cornwall. It had also been confirmed on a subsequent fly-past of the site. In a statement to the Commons, Mrs Beckett said that the Government had tried to deal with the crisis through "private, but robust diplomacy". When the Iranians' mistake over the coordinates had been established, she had suggested to her Iranian counterpart that the situation "could be easily resolved" by releasing the detained Britons. But it was now clear that a change of tack was needed. Accordingly, Britain was mobilising d Site is currently unavailable .Please come back later http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle1579646.ece __________________ Anyone but the this most fuked up President in History in 2012!