American military kidnapped by Iran, too?
So says an Iraqi fisherman, who probably couldn't tell the difference between a U.S, U.K. or Chinese military uniform.
Apparently not. first reports were from Iraqis who were unsure of whether they were yanks or brits. Recent reports inidctate they were British sailors and Marines from the HMS Cornwall on an interdiction mission in or near the Persian Gulf's Shatt al Arab waterway.
Here's a bit from the Washington Post:
***Iran Nabs British Sailors in Iraq Waters......A Pentagon official said the Britons were in two inflatable boats from the frigate H.M.S. Cornwall during a routine smuggling investigation, said the official, who spoke on condition on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the incident.
He said the confrontation happened as the British contingent was traveling along the boundary of territorial waters between Iran and Iraq. They were detained by the Revolutionary Guard's navy, he said.
A fisherman who said he was with a group of Iraqis from the southern city of Basra fishing in Iraqi waters in the northern area of the Gulf said he saw the Iranian seizure. The fisherman declined to be identified because of security concerns.
"Two boats, each with a crew of six to eight multinational forces, were searching Iraqi and Iranian boats Friday morning in Ras al-Beesha area in the northern entrance of the Arab Gulf, but big Iranian boats came and took the two boats with their crews to the Iranian waters."
The Britain government said it had demanded "the immediate and safe return of our people and equipment."....*** http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/23/AR2007032300574.html
Washington Post adjusted their story:
Friday, March 23, 2007; 8:52 AM
The Iranian military seized 15 British naval personnel in the waters off Iraq early this morning, the British Ministry of Defence has confirmed.
The British sailors were conducting what were described as "routine boarding operations" of a merchant marine vessel when they were surrounded by Iranian military boats and escorted into Iranian waters.
The British boarding operation, according to the ministry's statement, was authorized under a United Nations resolution and supported by the government of Iraq.
Iraqi waters and the Persian Gulf in general are monitored closely for smuggling by the U.S. and coalition forces. The area's complicated geography, particularly the narrow Shatt al-Arab waterway shared by Iran and Iraq, has been a source of repeated tension.
U.K. officials said they were "urgently" pursuing the issue with the Iranian government and had summoned the Iranian ambassador to the British Foreign Office.
"The British Government is demanding the immediate and safe return of our people and equipment," the Ministry of Defence statement said.
Tension between Iran and the west has been rising in recent months as Tehran pursued an uranium enrichment program despite United Nations demands that it be stopped.
In addition, the U.S. has accused elements of the Iranian government of supporting sectarian violence in Iraq and supplying insurgents with explosives. Several Iranian personnel have been taken into custody in U.S. raids.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/23/AR2007032300574.html