Iran said on Monday it was interrogating 15 British sailors it seized last week, claiming they had entered its waters illegally and defying intense international pressure for their release.
As the diplomatic row deepened, Britain ambassador Geoffrey Adams held more talks at the Foreign Ministry in Tehran and was assured that the group was “fit and well”, the Foreign Office said in London.
Baghdad also backed up Britain’s claim that the 14 men and one woman — whose exact whereabouts remain unknown — were taken in Iraqi waters in the Shatt al-Arab waterway that divides the two countries.
Shockwaves from the seizure, which British Prime Minister Tony Blair has labelled “unjustified and wrong”, continued to reverberate around the world.
With tensions rising in the region over both the group’s capture and Iran’s disputed nuclear programme, world oil prices on Monday struck the highest points so far in 2007, reaching above $64 a barrel in London.
Britain says the naval personnel — eight sailors and seven marines — were conducting “routine” anti-smuggling operations when they were seized at gunpoint in the Shatt al-Arab waterway in the north of the Gulf on Friday.
The Foreign Office said Adams met senior Iranian officials for an hour in his second meeting in two days, describing the meeting as “cordial” and conducted in a “business-like atmosphere”.
“The ambassador pressed hard for details of where the detainees are being held and for consular access to them and what plans the Iranians had for their release,” a spokesperson said.
“The MFA [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] assured us that the group is fit and well and in Iran. There are no further details at this stage.”
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Mostafavi said the sailors were being interrogated but gave no information about where they were being held or whether they would face formal charges.
“The case of the Britons who violated Iranian territorial waters is following the due legal process and they must answer for their violation,” state television reported.
“The British sailors are currently being interrogated and must clarify whether they entered Iranian waters deliberately or by mistake,” he said. “When it becomes clear, a decision will be made.”
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he would attempt to contact Iranian leaders on Monday to discuss the fate of the sailors, whose release has been demanded by Britain’s partners in the European Union.
The White House on Monday also expressed solidarity with Britain. “We stand by our British allies and I will reiterate that there is no intention of going to war with Iran,” spokesperson Dana Perino told reporters.
Washington House has said it sees no linkage between the sailors’ fate and pressure on Iran as United Nations international inspectors seek greater access to a key underground nuclear site for enriching uranium.
Mostafavi also denied reports Iran wanted to exchange the sailors with Iranians seized by US forces in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil in January, an incident that triggered further tensions between Tehran and arch foe Washington.
Iraq said Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari had telephoned his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki on Sunday to urge the release of the Britons, saying they were operating in Iraq with the government’s consent.
“The minister stressed that they, according to Iraqi authorities’ information, were detained inside Iraqi territorial waters,” his ministry said in a statement.
Iran is already at loggerheads with the international community over its nuclear programme and on Saturday was slapped with tougher UN Security Council sanctions for failing to halt sensitive uranium enrichment work. — AFP