Pressure Increases Over Iran Stand-Off

Mar 27, 09:20 AM

Current Headlines: The British Government yesterday recalled the Iranian ambassador to repeat demands for 15 British service personnel captured in Iran to be freed immediately.

Foreign Office Minister Lord Triesman also reiterated the Government's call to be told the whereabouts of the sailors and requested consular access to them during his meeting with the ambassador, Rasoul Movahedian.

The 45-minute discussion, in which Lord Triesman repeated the Government's assertion the sailors were in Iraqi waters when they were seized, was "frank and clinical", the Foreign Office said.

The missing sailors and marines were captured last Friday after boarding a dhow carrying suspicious cargo off the coast of Iraq.

Although Britain insists its forces were not doing anything wrong, the Iranians have condemned the move as an act of "aggression" and threatened prosecution.

Iranian deputy foreign minister Mehzi Mostafavi said the captives were being interrogated but insisted they were not taken as pawns to be used in exchange for five Iranians held in Iraq.

He said: "Iran has enough evidence to prove that the British forces personnel were detained in Iranian waters. It should become clear whether their entry was intentional or unintentional. After that is clarified, the necessary decision will be made."

The reference to possible "unintentional" entry was seen by some as a first, tentative sign Iran could be seeking a way out of the stand-off.

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