World
  |
|
Britain threatens to raise stakes in Iran standoff
AFP/MOD
The HMS Cornwall sails through the Gulf. Prime Minister Tony Blair warned Iran on Tuesday that a dispute over 15 detained sailors could enter a "different phase" if they were not freed soon as the foreign minister rushed back to London to deal with the crisis.By Robin Millard
AFP
LONDON
Petroleumworld.com 03 27 07
British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned Iran on Tuesday that a row over 15 detained sailors could enter a "different phase" if they were not freed soon, remarks which Tehran condemned as provocative.Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett meanwhile cut short a visit to Turkey in order to report to parliament Wednesday, having hit a dead end in talks with her Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki.
Blair earlier cautioned Iran that he was not prepared to see the naval personnel held with "no justification whatever."
His official spokesman said London was not looking to escalate the stand-off and would prefer a diplomatic solution, insisting that Britain was not considering military action or throwing out Iran's ambassador.
Blair said Britain was trying to "pursue this through the diplomatic channels and make the Iranian government understand these people have to be released."
"If not, then this will move into a different phase," he added in an interview with GMTV television.
However in Tehran, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini denounced the British remarks.
"The media campaigns and provocative ... remarks regarding the violation of Iranian territorial waters by the British sailors are doing nothing to help settle the affair," he said.
"The British service personnel entered Iranian waters illegally and the case will follow its legal and judicial course."
Beckett's return so soon after speaking to Tehran reflected the mounting concern over the standoff, as Iran rejects growing international calls to free the sailors who were detained last Friday.
Beckett said she had decided to return to London after speaking on the telephone with Mottaki.
"I discussed what developments there have been, whether we have made any progress in trying to resolve the issues. Unfortunately, it appears that may not be the case, she said.
A Foreign Office spokesman said Beckett "spoke in very robust terms" with Mottaki.
"She indicated that the British government will continue to pressurise the Iranian government on all these points."
Britain, supported by Iraq, insists that the naval personnel were conducting "routine" anti-smuggling operations in Iraqi waters Friday when they were seized at gunpoint in the Shatt al-Arab waterway in the north of the Gulf.
Iran says they entered its territorial waters illegally.
Pressed on what a "different phase" of the dispute might involve, Blair said: "Well, we will just have to see.
"But what they should understand is that we cannot have a situation where our servicemen and women are seized when actually they are in Iraqi waters under a United Nations mandate, patrolling perfectly rightly and in accordance with that mandate, and then effectively captured and taken to Iran."
Blair said that the sailors' welfare was paramount.
"There is absolutely no justification whatever for holding them," he added.
Blair's spokesman said London was "utterly certain" that the sailors were in Iraqi waters.
"So far, we haven't made explicit why we know that because we don't want to escalate this.
"We don't want to do that too soon because we prefer to have this ... resolved quietly."
But he added: "We may come to the stage where we have to become more explicit about why we know this."
Citing unnamed sources, the BBC said the crew were being grilled at a Revolutionary Guards base in Tehran to find out if they were on an intelligence-gathering mission.
The investigation involved examining tracking equipment to determine exactly where the sailors were seized.
The European Union has demanded the sailors' release and the United States has expressed its "concern and outrage."
The German foreign ministry said on Tuesday it had called in the Iranian ambassador to Berlin and reiterated a demand for the immediate release of the naval personnel.
The crisis over the detentions comes as concerns also rise over Iran's disputed nuclear programme.
World oil prices dipped Tuesday after a surge towards 65 dollars a barrel in London amid the mounting political tensions with the Islamic republic.
AFP 27 1813 GMT 03 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
Your
feedback is important to us!
We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article.
Write to editor@petroleumworld.com
Any
question or suggestions, please write to:
editor@petroleumworld.com
Best
Viewed with IE
5.01+
Windows
NT 4.0, '95, '98 and ME +/ 800x600 pixels