Iran Says It Frees British Sailors

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran released eight British sailors it had detained for illegally entering Iranian waters, but said Wednesday it was keeping their three military patrol boats.
"The eight British sailors, including six soldiers and two ranking military officials, have been released," a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told The Associated Press. She said that while they were no longer detained, the sailors had not yet been handed over to British authorities. She gave no other details.

State-run TV reported that the sailors, who were detained Monday, would leave Iran without the boats and some unspecified equipment.

In London, a Foreign Office spokesman told Press Association soon after word of the release: "As far as we are aware, the Iranians have confirmed to us they will be released later today but we have got no confirmation that they have been released."
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBSYVDITVD.html

Was just the Iranians puffing up their chest a little..

I didn't think they would harm these guys....

Just a little sabre rattling.

Heyo

as to what exactly these guys were up to. This is a snip from an article in Scotland Today.

It has emerged that the Royal Marines arrested off the coast of Iran are from Faslane and Arbroath. It is understood they were on a secret reconaissance mission when they were confronted by the Iranian authorities. Foreign secretary Jack Straw is locked in talks trying to secure the marines' safe return.

The M-16 rifle is an American weapon preferred by Britain's special forces who shun the issued SA-80 rifle because of its catalogue of faults. The fact that M-16s were filmed by the Iranian captors were among the equipment being carried by the British servicemen suggests they were perhaps not as innocent as is being made out.

<snip>

It is understood they belonged to the Fleet Standby Rifle Troop based at the Faslane submarine base on the Clyde and Arbroath, home of 45 Commando of the Royal Marines. They may also include members of the SBS, the Special Boat Service - the marines equivalent of the SAS.

<snip>

There is no Royal Marine unit in Iraq at the moment and one theory is that the Scottish-based soldiers were on a reconaissance mision ahead of the deployment of 40 Commando to Iraq later this year. If so, this is a deeply embarrassing situation.

http://scotlandtoday.scottishtv.co.uk/content/default.asp?page=s1_1_1&newsid=4125

What the Iranians said ...

<snip>
The Iranian TV report said an Iranian delegation headed by Ali Ahani, in charge of European and American affairs at the Foreign Ministry, would arrive in the area on Wednesday evening.
The report, quoting its correspondent, said the servicemen were from special forces in the Royal Navy, adding their three boats and equipment including satellite positioning systems, small cameras and detailed maps would stay in Iranian naval custody.
<snip>
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=534580§ion=news


... and how the UK paints it

<snip>
Just a mile from bank to bank at its widest point, the Shatt, formed by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates, is split by the border between Iraq and Iraq, an invisible midpoint line established in the 1975 Algiers Agreement.

But the continuing dispute over this border helped spark the bloody Iran-Iraq war in 1980 and the boundary has not been honoured by Teheran.

There have been recent intelligence reports of Iranians firing at the new Iraqi Riverine Patrol Service.
<snip>

But the team captured on Monday were not undercover members of the special forces ...
<snip>

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/06/23/wiran123.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/06/23/ixnewstop.html