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Iran Dissidents: British Capture Ordered [Opposition Group Says Ayatollah Khamenei Ordered Capture]
AP via ABC News ^ | March 31, 2007 | DAVID STRINGER

Posted on 03/31/2007 8:33:43 PM PDT by jdm

LONDON Mar 31, 2007 (AP) — An Iranian opposition group claimed Saturday that Iran's capture of 15 British sailors and marines was planned in advance and carried out in retaliation for the U.N. sanctions imposed against the country, as an Iranian diplomat said the case had entered a legal phase.

Gholam-Reza Ansari, the Iranian ambassador to Russia, made his comments to Russian television Vesti-24 on Friday and was quoted by IRNA on its Web site as saying, "the case of the detention of British sailors has taken on a judicial form."

IRNA originally quoted the ambassador Saturday morning as saying the sailors could be "tried if there is enough evidence of guilt." But the agency published a correction later claiming Ansari's comments were incorrectly translated by Russian television. The Russian TV station could not immediately be reached for comment.

Asked about Ansari's remarks earlier Saturday before IRNA reported that he was misquoted, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett urged Iran to resolve the crisis peacefully.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran the political wing of the Iranian MEK opposition group which is listed as a terrorist group by Britain, the U.S. and the European Union said the British crew's capture was planned in advance, but offered no evidence to support the claims.

The British sailors were detained by Iranian naval units March 23 while patrolling for smugglers near the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab, a waterway that has long been a disputed dividing line between Iraq and Iran. Iran claims the Britons were in its territory; Britain and the Iraqi government say they were taken captive in Iraqi waters.

Iran appears intent on sending a message of strength as it faces mounting U.N. Nations sanctions over its uranium enrichment program, which the U.S. and other nations suspect the Islamic Republic is using to develop nuclear weapons.

Hossein Abedini, a member of the opposition group's foreign affairs committee, claimed the group had obtained information from sources within Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard and had passed details to the British government. He did not provide any evidence or give further details.

Britain's Foreign Office said it could not comment on Abedini's allegation, or say if it had evidence the operation was pre-planned. A spokeswoman said the MEK was a banned organization under British anti-terrorism laws meaning the government had no dealings with the group.

Abedini told a London press conference that an Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval garrison had been on alert from the night before the kidnapping, to prepare for the operation.

Mohammad Mohaddessin, who handles foreign affairs for the council, said in a statement that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had ordered the detention of the Britons in the hope of pressuring the British government over a threat to toughen U.N. sanctions.

"You can see that the clerical regime had in a premeditated act arrested British sailors in order to win concessions from the international community and divert attention from its nuclear project," Abedini said. "Claims that the sailors were arrested in Iranian territorial waters are baseless."

Britain's Foreign Office reiterated that the personnel "were in Iraqi waters and we continue to request immediate consular access to them and their immediate release."

Britain has frozen most contacts with Iran and referred the issue to the U.N. Security Council, which expressed "grave concern" on Thursday over Iran's seizure last week of the Britons.

Former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami told reporters on Saturday that he hopes the current standoff will be resolved peacefully "instead of facing a new disaster not only for Iranian-British relations, but for Iran internationally."


TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: british; dissidents; iran; muhammadsminions; sailors
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To: cmotormac44
GBY cmotormac44!
21 posted on 04/01/2007 3:01:41 AM PDT by Earthdweller (All reality is based on faith in something.)
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To: jdm; All
Once again, with gusto:
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22 posted on 04/01/2007 3:31:13 AM PDT by mkjessup (If Reagan were still with us, he'd ask us to "win one more for the Gipper, vote for Duncan Hunter!")
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To: mkjessup

Remember this is the guy who with his 'jaw jaw not war war' kept the nazis busy While we built our airfields and our Spitfire's and Hurricanes, he allowed the development of various technical military advances ie Radar and sonar and most importantly approved the building of an integrated air defenses network that proved itself, exactly at the right moment in world history.


23 posted on 04/01/2007 4:21:29 AM PDT by Brit1 ( By strength and guile .)
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To: Brit1

That 'guy' was an appeaser par excellence. Ask the Czechs what they think about Chamberlain.

And you might dwell on Sir Winston Churchill's wiser words when he said "You have chosen dishonor over war. And you shall have both."


24 posted on 04/01/2007 4:42:14 AM PDT by mkjessup (If Reagan were still with us, he'd ask us to "win one more for the Gipper, vote for Duncan Hunter!")
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To: jdm

I can't help but notice that they didn't attempt to capture any Americans. If they had, I sincerely hope we'd make them pay.


25 posted on 04/01/2007 5:15:38 AM PDT by Neever
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To: blam
And, why pray tell should Iran have the opportunity to save face for a boldly executed premeditated act of war? Iran has simple goals, distracting the world from the question of their nuclear weapons and securing the return of their agents who were captured in Iraq.

This just points out the bizarre nature of the Geneva Conventions. The bad guys just don't have to play because there are no consequences of just doing what ever they please.

Iran has never experienced consequences for their actions. This has always been justified by pointing to the possibility of "Moderates" fixing the situation. As long as I have been an adult nearly 30 years this same canard has paralyzed the West into inaction against the most egregious behavior. I just don't buy it anymore. Each time they don't pay an overwhelming price for such adventures, they see it as God's support for their evil. Whats the point in feeding that monster?

26 posted on 04/01/2007 5:26:53 AM PDT by dalight
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To: bygolly
I guess the Iranian dissidents forgot to Google "Gulf of Tonkin"

I think Blair and Bush need to Google "testicles"

27 posted on 04/01/2007 5:43:52 AM PDT by montag813
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To: blam
"Ministers are preparing a compromise deal to allow Iran to save face and release its 15 British military captives by promising that the Royal Navy will never knowingly enter Iranian waters without permission."

What else can they do? There is no U.N. backing to invade Iran, and Britain will never do anything without that.

28 posted on 04/01/2007 5:45:37 AM PDT by montag813
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To: Scott from the Left Coast
No, really, this is watching the end of western civilization.

Watching the History Channel's recent specials on the Visigoths and the Vandals vs. Rome made it all too clear what our future is.

29 posted on 04/01/2007 5:47:30 AM PDT by montag813
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To: cmotormac44
Do not fear---just read the Bible and know exactly where this world is headed

I have read it. It doesn't say anything about the United States. It doesn't give a timeline. It is no comfort at all given what is going on in the West.

30 posted on 04/01/2007 5:49:01 AM PDT by montag813
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To: Brad from Tennessee
What about the four or five senior Iranian military people missing in Turkey?

THAT is what this is all about. It has nothing to do with sanctions.

31 posted on 04/01/2007 5:50:06 AM PDT by montag813
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To: bygolly

You're an idiot. The Iranians took these sailors in an effort to fire up their pitiful street. Their media has shown these white devils 24/7 since they were kidnapped. It's the way the hairy asses do their business. This entire escalation of the last couple of years is all about provoking an attack from the west. The 70's revolutionaries in Iran are getting old and they want to engineer a confrontation with the west to bolster their standing with their ignorant street and restless youth. The rest will go along. Kidnap in the ME is like I dunno, a glorified act.


32 posted on 04/01/2007 6:27:28 AM PDT by kinghorse (I didn't question Nancy's patriotism. I questioned her judgment - Dick Cheney 2007)
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Apparently for some here on this board, death and destruction cannot happen quick enough for their liking.

Has it ever occurred that we wage war on our terms? I am not talking about instigating war, I am talking about engaging in it when it is instigated upon us. This current incident with Iran, I pray for our Ally's in captivity, I also pray for cooler hands to prevail with measured response (note* Not restrained response, response that is appropriate to the situation).

Americans and Brits are exceptionally tolerant, but we do have a line. Has it been reached? For me it has, but then again, I no longer wear the uniform and trying to understand the position of those ordering the whoop ass that should be headed Iran's way, I would do everything in my power to set the stage to wage war on my terms, not on some 12th imam hoping suckers terms.

Right now, I think patience and a whole lot of spook work will set the stage for some soon to be homeless (and hopefully) bodiless mullahs.

33 posted on 04/01/2007 6:39:21 AM PDT by Michael Barnes ($DEM_TALKING_POINT > /dev/null)
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To: kinghorse
Hey man, it was a joke? Ever hear of Tehran Rose?

You're preaching to the choir but while doing so, you clearly elevated the debate with your name calling.

Have a nice day!

34 posted on 04/01/2007 6:42:14 AM PDT by bygolly
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To: cmotormac44

Good post...things are afoot.


35 posted on 04/01/2007 6:45:09 AM PDT by highlander_UW (I don't know what my future holds, but I know Who holds my future)
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To: Neever
I can't help but notice that they didn't attempt to capture any Americans. If they had, I sincerely hope we'd make them pay.

I suspect it was an effort to hasten Britain's withdrawal from the Mideast....just like bombing Spain right before their election hastened their surrender.

36 posted on 04/01/2007 6:48:34 AM PDT by highlander_UW (I don't know what my future holds, but I know Who holds my future)
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To: jdm
UN "expresses grave concern." Well, that certainly will make the Iranian murdering thugs shake in their boots.
37 posted on 04/01/2007 6:52:57 AM PDT by RetiredArmy (The Marxist Dimocrats are enemies of the Republic and friends of the Islamic murderers.)
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To: bygolly

/sarc is useful. I do the same thing sometimes and assume the reader is in my frame of mind. No problem. If you were serious my comment would have stood.


38 posted on 04/01/2007 7:01:58 AM PDT by kinghorse (I didn't question Nancy's patriotism. I questioned her judgment - Dick Cheney 2007)
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To: Ultra Sonic 007
Are there no men left who will stand up for what is right?!

Reminds one of the USS Cole does it not?

39 posted on 04/01/2007 7:06:03 AM PDT by Churchillspirit (We are all foot soldiers in this War On Terror.)
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To: kinghorse

No problem friend. We are all frustrated when we see weak responses to threats!


40 posted on 04/01/2007 7:14:08 AM PDT by bygolly
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