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Iran denies crewmen forced into its waters
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-07-02 01:29
Iran has denied that eight British servicemen arrested last month in Iranian
waters were forced into its territory.
British sailors are marched
blindfolded in Iran in a still taken from footage released by
Arabic-language Al Alam satellite television channel on June 23, 2004.
[Reuters] | Britain said on Wednesday Iranian Revolutionary Guards had forced eight
British navy personnel into Iranian waters while the men were operating inside
Iraqi territory on the Shatt al-Arab waterway along the Iran-Iraq border.
"The British charge d'affaires in Tehran ... had confirmed the unauthorised
and unintentional straying of the boats to Iranian waters," Iranian Foreign
Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said on Thursday.
Iran held the British crewmen for three nights before handing them over to
British diplomats after Tehran said they had mistakenly veered off course.
In a written statement to parliament on Wednesday, Defence Secretary Geoff
Hoon said: "The initial assessment ... was that these service personnel could
have strayed into Iranian waters by mistake.
"In recent more detailed debriefing the crews have said that they were
operating inside the Iraqi border and were forcibly escorted into Iranian
territorial waters."
The incident occurred at a time when British relations with Iran had soured
over London's criticism of Tehran's alleged failure to cooperate with U.N.
nuclear inspectors.
Unlike the United States, Britain has pursued a policy of engaging Iran in
recent years. London has said it will continue that policy despite the arrest of
the eight British servicemen.
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