The Iranian hostage crisis took a sinister turn on Thursday night when Tehran withdrew an earlier offer to release one of the 15 captive sailors and marines and issued a second, strangely-worded letter in her name calling for Britain to withdraw from Iraq.
The letter, signed by Leading Seaman Faye Turney, the only woman in the naval crew seized last Friday, was addressed to ”representatives of the House of Commons”. Although the letter was handwritten, it was stilted and lacked the personal tone of the first letter, sent to her family the day before. The second letter appeared to have been dictated to her.
”Unfortunately during the course of our mission we entered Iranian waters. Even through our wrongdoing, they have still treated us well and humanely, which I am and always will be eternally grateful,” the letter said.
”I ask representatives of the House of Commons after the government had promised this type of incident would not happen again why have they let this occur and why has the government not been questioned over this? Isn’t it time for us to start withdrawing forces from Iraq and let them determine their own future?”
A Number 10 source said: ”It is cold and callous to be doing this to a woman at a time when she is being detained in this way.”
The letter was released during a day of rising tensions and diverging negotiating positions. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he was still willing to put the whole incident down to a ”misunderstanding”. ”The important thing is we just keep making it very clear to the Iranian government it is not a situation that will be relieved by anything but the unconditional release of all our people,” he said.
The UN Security Council on Thursday released a statement expressing its ”grave concern” at the capture of the sailors and marines. However, the wording of the statement was weaker than Britain had hoped after council members, notably Russia, baulked at a draft that asked for the Britons’ immediate release and stated that the navy boats were in Iraqi waters.
The UN moves were part of a British effort focused on building international solidarity and isolating Iran. The EU and an Arab summit in Riyadh were lobbied for statements criticising Iran’s actions.
The Iranian response was to dig in. An offer of diplomatic access to the British captives and to release Leading Seaman Turney was dropped.
The head of the country’s national security council, Ari Larijani, told state TV that the British government had ”miscalculated this issue, and if they follow through with the threats, the case may face a legal path”, an apparent reference to a future trial.
Another Iranian news agency quoted the military chief, General Ali Reza Afshar, saying that as a result of Britain’s ”wrong behaviour” the release of the woman sailor had been ”suspended”, reversing an undertaking given the day before by the Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki.
Meanwhile, a coastguard officer appeared on television to deliver a rebuttal of Britain’s account of Friday’s incident, displaying a map and GPS monitors purporting to show that the British navy patrol had been in Iranian waters.
In an ITV interview Blair was asked directly about the treatment of Turney, who is the mother of a three-year-old girl, and who was shown on Iranian TV on Wednesday ”confessing” to having entered Iranian waters.
He said: ”I just think it’s … a disgrace when people are used in that way. The longer it goes on, the more the pressure will be stepped up. We are going to have to step up pressure, not just with them in the UN and the European Union, but see what further measures are necessary to get them to understand it’s not merely wrong but only going to result in further tension.”
On Thursday night the Foreign Office said it was giving ”serious consideration” to a confidential note from the Iranian government about the 15 captives. A spokesperson said the note’s contents could not be discussed but would receive a formal response. – Guardian Unlimited Â