15 British Troops Captured by the Iranian Guards: Border Violation, Another Silly Excuse to Strike At the West

“The European Union will demand the immediate release of 15 British navy personnel detained by Iran in the Gulf,” said the EU president.

The German Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, told reporters that “Berlin has obtained official confirmation that the troops are under arrest for an alleged border violation.”

“The EU presidency would issue a statement later demanding the immediate release of the soldiers”, he also said.

Iran says the sailors entered Iranian waters illegally while Britain says they were carrying out routine checks on shipping in Iraqi waters. Even in case if what the Iranian government claims is true, is the controversy over a simple border violation, or is Iran getting smart on the west by magnifying the issue, accusing a bunch of sailors and marines of spying for the UK? What is there in those limitless waters possibly worth spying on?

The Iranian government insists that the British troops had entered the Iranian waters intentionally, to lay the bed for an indefinite lock-up of them, so that country have the chance to continue playing on the west, ecpecially regarding its nuclear power issue.

Iran's semi official Fars news agency said: “Navigational equipment on the seized British boats show that the sailors were aware that they were operating in Iranian waters and Iranian border guards fulfilled their responsibility.”

Fars added that, “The 15 sailors and marines, who include a woman, were brought to the capital Tehran for questioning about what they were doing during what Britain insists was a routine anti smuggling patrol.”

The eight Royal Navy sailors and seven Royal Marines have just been transferred to Tehran for more interrogations.

The Islamic regime of Iran has claimed repeatedly that the troops have admitted to having violated the Iranian borders. But is there anyone who might possibly not confess to literary anything whilst under that government's notorious custody, where you know that anything can happen to you and being mentally & physically tortured is a trivial routine.

“The said personnel are being interrogated and have confessed to aggression into the Islamic Republic of Iran's waters,” A top military official, General Ali Reza Afshar told the state news agency IRNA and the semi official news agency, ISNA.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad Ali Hosseini, accused the British of “violating the sovereign boundaries of Iran,” calling the entry “a blatant aggression.”

He accused Britain of trying to cover up the incursion, saying: “They should refrain from putting the blame on others.”

This story has been a significant headline for almost any publications in the free world since a few days ago and the British government has reacted very firmly to this shocking, worrying and unexpected event.

Tony Blair said that, “It simply is not true that they went into Iranian territorial waters and I hope the Iranian government understands how fundamental an issue this is for us. We have certainly sent the message back to them very clearly indeed. They should not be under any doubt at all about how seriously we regard this act, which is unjustified and wrong.”

Britain's Defense Ministry said: “The Royal Navy personnel were in Iraqi territorial waters when they were seized.”

Commander Kevin Aandahl of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain said: “It is very clear they were in Iraqi waters. We've been on operations there for several years. Coalition vessels respect the 1975 treaty.”

On the other hand, there are some Iraqi officials who deny knowing anything about the operation and consider the possibility of the British troops having gone a bit too far.

“We were informed by Iraqi fishermen after they had returned from sea that there were British gunboats in an area that is out of Iraqi control. We don't know why they were there,” General Hakim Jassim told AP Television News, in the Iraqi southern city of Basra.

The Cornwall's commander, Commodore Nick Lambert, said: “I hope the detention is a simple mistake, stemming from the unclear border.”