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Iranian TV Shows Two British Sailors Apologizing
reuters.com ^ | Tue Jun 22, 2004 01:04 PM ET | Reuters

Posted on 06/22/2004 10:48:45 AM PDT by Destro

Iranian TV Shows Two British Sailors Apologizing

A frame grab taken from Iranian television shows what are believed to be four of the eight British crew members detained by Iran after their boats were seized on a waterway between Iran and Iraq. Iranian state television said on June 22, 2004 that Iran would prosecute the sailors, a move likely to fan a minor border incident into a diplomatic crisis. The British government immediately demanded an explanation from Tehran of the report. Photo by Al Alam/Reuters

Tue Jun 22, 2004 01:04 PM ET

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian television broadcast footage Tuesday of two British sailors arrested Monday on the Shatt al-Arab waterway apologizing for entering Iranian territorial waters.

"The team wrongly entered Iranian waters and we apologize for this mistake because it was a big mistake," one of the sailors, identified as Sergeant Thomas Hawkins, said in comments dubbed into Arabic and shown on Al-Alam television.

Hawkins, dressed in military fatigues, said his team of eight sailors had been one mile inside Iranian territorial waters when they were arrested by Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

Another sailor, chief petty officer Robert Webster, said the team had wrongly entered Iranian waters on a mission accompanying a vessel from Umm Qasr to Basra.

The arrest of the sailors threatened to cause a serious diplomatic rift between Iran and Britain. But an Iranian military official said they could soon be released if investigations show their incursion was not ill-intended.

The Royal Navy personnel appeared in blindfolds on Iranian television Tuesday and the British government summoned Iran's ambassador to London and called for their release.

Some Iranian media reports said the Britons were carrying sophisticated maps and arms and would be prosecuted, but Ali Reza Afshar, deputy head of the armed forces chief of staff, said they could be freed shortly.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: codeofconduct; iran; royalnavy; uk
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How humiliating and infuriating. Btitania rules the waves, indeed.
1 posted on 06/22/2004 10:48:48 AM PDT by Destro
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To: Destro

So now Iran's "government" is partaking in the latest Al Qaeda tact?


2 posted on 06/22/2004 10:51:23 AM PDT by smith288 (Even if you hate me, God bless you †)
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To: Destro

Britannia that is.....


3 posted on 06/22/2004 10:51:27 AM PDT by Destro (Know your enemy! Help fight Islamic terrorism by visiting www.johnathangaltfilms.com)
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To: smith288

It can be said Iran invented the thing.


4 posted on 06/22/2004 10:52:43 AM PDT by Destro (Know your enemy! Help fight Islamic terrorism by visiting www.johnathangaltfilms.com)
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To: smith288
Exactly. Iran is a terrorist state, and they continue to prove the point.

Hopefully, the mullahs will soon be overthrown by the Persian people.

5 posted on 06/22/2004 10:54:07 AM PDT by B Knotts
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To: Destro
Countries have the right to secure their coastline - is it humiliating? Or just an admission that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, in the wrong boat.

Had this been a Royal Navy destroyer, things would have been different, to be sure - this "confession" is a crock, but predictable.

6 posted on 06/22/2004 10:54:19 AM PDT by xsrdx (Diligentia, Vis, Celeritas)
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Comment #7 Removed by Moderator

To: stuck_in_new_orleans

You are such a brave keyboard warrior.


8 posted on 06/22/2004 10:57:49 AM PDT by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security)
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To: Destro

Wow -- how disappointing. Either the sailors whimped out or diplomatic channels whimped out.


9 posted on 06/22/2004 10:58:08 AM PDT by Rutles4Ever
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To: Destro

Can't blame the IRanians on this one.

British violated the boundaries. And they got caught.

Any nation has the right to nab intruders. Even the Iranians.


10 posted on 06/22/2004 11:00:09 AM PDT by swarthyguy
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To: Rutles4Ever

You're exactly right. These guys should have committed suicide on Iranian TV.

Just to satisfy you.


11 posted on 06/22/2004 11:01:06 AM PDT by Howlin
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To: MEG33

Are you kidding me? What kind of wet noodles do you want in your military? APOLOGIZE?? Militaries NEVER apologize.

Give me a break. That's a disgrace to everyone serving in the British armed forces. I guess we can call this COMMON valour...


12 posted on 06/22/2004 11:01:11 AM PDT by Rutles4Ever
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To: stuck_in_new_orleans

Hey stuck....you know not of what you speak..


13 posted on 06/22/2004 11:01:31 AM PDT by mystery-ak (*They are all Pat Tillman's*........Rush)
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To: MadIvan

ping


14 posted on 06/22/2004 11:01:49 AM PDT by Desdemona
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To: Destro

wheres the rest of them? thought there were 8, this sounds fishy to me, are they next to be beheaded by those cowards?


15 posted on 06/22/2004 11:02:10 AM PDT by irishsoldier (SHOOT MOVE COMMUNICATE.....HOOAH!!!!)
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To: Rutles4Ever

Get them out of the hands of the Mullahs, I suspect a tactic for the seizure of the Brits.


Then we can find out what really happened!!


16 posted on 06/22/2004 11:02:58 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (The terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States - and war is what they got!!!!)
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To: Howlin

I wouldn't join the military if I wasn't ready to give my life... that's kind of part of the calling... Instead, the British just got emasculated in front of the world by a bunch of vermin... IRAN??

Come on.


17 posted on 06/22/2004 11:03:31 AM PDT by Rutles4Ever
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To: swarthyguy
Any nation has the right to nab intruders. Even the Iranians.

Except the USA!

18 posted on 06/22/2004 11:04:50 AM PDT by Not a 60s Hippy
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To: Rutles4Ever

You , of course realize that confessions made under duress have no meaning and the Brits want their men out alive....

I realize you probably have upfront and personal experience in these matters and have either been captured or negotiated for release of military men captured.


19 posted on 06/22/2004 11:05:37 AM PDT by MEG33 (John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades on issues of National Security)
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To: swarthyguy
Have the Brits admitted (the government, not the sailors) of a mistaken incursion? Playing devil's advocate, it would not be beyond the Iranians to manufacture an incident by nabbing these guys outside their territory.
20 posted on 06/22/2004 11:06:51 AM PDT by Turbo Pig (...to close with and destroy the enemy...)
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