Tension builds over Britons held by Iran

LONDON – Britain and Iran on Thursday hardened their positions in their dispute over 15 British sailors captured in Persian Gulf waters that maritime experts say remain among the most disputed geographical boundaries in the world.

Both nations broadened their attack, with Britain winning a statement of “grave concern” over the detention from the United Nations Security Council, and Iran releasing a new letter from Seaman Faye Turney that injected the issue of the war in neighboring Iraq.

“Isn’t it time for us to start withdrawing our forces from Iraq and let them determine their own future?” said the letter, addressed to Britain’s parliament.

Tehran displayed charts and satellite readings on state television purporting to show that the small British rafts, which had been patrolling in the Persian Gulf, near the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, had crossed into Iranian territory six times.

“We intend to find out the reason for their illegal entry into Iranian territorial waters,” said Ali Larijani, Iran’s national security council chief.

Larijani said any British attempts to pursue the case through “media propaganda and political hue and cry” would cause delays in Iran’s original plan for an early release of Turney, the only female being held.

Britain insists the boats were 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi waters when they were confronted by Iranian Revolutionary Guards, but is still attempting to resolve the conflict through diplomatic channels.

“What you have to do when you are engaged with people like the Iranian regime, you have to keep explaining to them, very patiently, what it is necessary to do, and at the same time, make them fully aware there are further measures that will be taken if they’re not prepared to be reasonable,” British Prime Minister Tony Blair told ITV News.

Iran’s mission issued a statement criticizing Britain for involving the Security Council in what it considers a bilateral issue. It called the effort “unacceptable, unwarranted and unjustifiable.” It also said that “Iran abides by its moral and legal commitments as regard(s) the treatment of the detainees. All detained British marines and sailors are safe, well and in good health.”

Although British officials insist there is no uncertainty over either the British boat’s position or that of the border, maritime experts say there is a long history of contention and uncertainty over territorial control in the northern Persian Gulf.

The waters are subject to international understandings, but have never been subject to a treaty between Iran and Iraq, maritime experts say.

“I’m afraid to say there is no line at all. What these people are talking about is an imaginary thing,” said Pirouz Mojtahed-Zadeh, an Iranian professor of geopolitics, now living in London, who has studied the Shatt al-Arab and its environs for 40 years. “Neither side is at fault. The situation is such that anybody can make a mistake,” he said.