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Iran still holding British sailors

This photo released on Monday shows the HMS Cornwall frigate, from which 15 naval personnel were captured in the Gulf on Friday. The personnel are reportedly being questioned by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in Tehran. PHOTO: AFP

Iran was interrogating 15 British sailors and marines it seized last week, claiming they had entered its territorial waters illegally, defying growing international calls for their release.

Britain's ambassador held more talks on Monday at the foreign ministry in Tehran, while his opposite number in London was summoned to the British foreign ministry for a "frank" chat.

The BBC reported that the group were being questioned by the Revolutionary Guards in Tehran, citing a highly-placed Iranian source.

According to the broadcaster, the group was being interrogated to see if its mission was related to intelligence-gathering, and this could take at least several days.

A spokeswoman for the British foreign ministry declined to confirm the report.

In the meeting with the Iranian ambassador to London Rasoul Mohavedian, Foreign Office minister Lord David Triesman reiterated the government's call to be informed where the group were being held, and for consular access, in a meeting on Monday.

Meanwhile, Britain's ambassador Geoffrey Adams was assured by the Iranian foreign ministry that the 15 were "fit and well."

According to a Foreign Office spokeswoman, Adams "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. The MFA [ministry of foreign affairs] assured us that the group is fit and well and in Iran."

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.

Baghdad also backed up Britain's claim that the 14 men and one women were taken in Iraqi waters in the Shatt al-Arab waterway that divides the two countries.

The family of the sole woman, 26-year-old Faye Turney, said late on Monday that they were going through a "very distressing time" and that they were "grateful for the support shown to us," in a statement released on their behalf by the defense ministry.

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 program, world oil prices on Monday struck the highest points so far this year, reaching above US$64 a barrel in London.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he would attempt to contact Iranian leaders to discuss the fate of the sailors, whose release has been demanded by Britain's partners in the EU.

The White House said it shared Britain's "concern and outrage" over the seizure, with spokeswoman Dana Perino telling reporters: "We strongly support the ... strong message of the hostage-taking being wrong and unjustified."

Washington has said it sees no linkage between the sailors' fate and pressure on Iran as UN inspectors seek greater access to a key underground nuclear site for enriching uranium.

Iran's deputy foreign minister Mehdi Mostafavi said the sailors and marines were being interrogated but gave no information about where they were being held or whether they would be charged.

"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."

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 archfoe Washington.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari 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.
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