Posted on 03/25/2007 5:38:24 PM PDT by Flavius
Tony Blair warned Iran last night that it has only a few days to find a diplomatic solution to the escalating crisis over the 15 missing British sailors and Marines.
As the tension grew, the first direct high-level talks took place between Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, and Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, to press Britain's concerns.
The moves came as the Foreign Office admitted it had no idea what has happened to the 15 Navy personnel seized by the Iranian military on Friday.
The Prime Minister, in his first public comments since the incident, appeared to signal a hardening of attitudes after more than 48 hours of low-level diplomacy.
Speaking in Berlin, Mr Blair said he still hoped that there could be a diplomatic solution.
"I hope that this is resolved in the next few days," he said. "The quicker it is resolved, the easier it will be for all of 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."
The seizure of the 14 men and one woman by Iran was a "very serious situation", Mr Blair added.
He warned Teheran that it was a "fundamental" issue for Britain and insisted that the personnel had not strayed into Iranian waters.
He said: "I have not been commenting up to now because I want to get it resolved in as easy and diplomatic a way as possible, because it is the welfare of the people that have been taken by the Iranian government that is most important. But this is a very serious situation."
The sailors and Marines were seized from the Shatt al-Arab waterway south of the Iraqi city of Basra. Teheran claimed the patrol encroached on its territorial waters in an act of "blatant aggression".
But this was disputed strongly by Mr Blair. He said: "There is no doubt at all that these people were taken from a boat in Iraqi waters.
"It is simply not true that they went into Iranian territorial waters and I hope the Iranian government understands how fundamental an issue this is for us."
Downing Street sources denied that Mr Blair's comments should be read as an ultimatum to the Iranians or that any sort of military option was under consideration.
But the intervention does mark a shift in the language being used.
Mrs Beckett continued the pressure, "making very clear" in a phone call to Mr Mottaki that no violation of Iranian waters had occurred. And she repeated still unanswered demands for information on the whereabouts of the 15 and for consular access to them.
Britain's position received support from other European Union countries yesterday. President Jacques Chirac of France said Britain had the "complete solidarity" of all EU leaders over the sailors.
"It seems clear they were not in the Iranian zone at the time," he said.
The German presidency of the EU issued a statement calling for their immediate release.
Diplomats are hoping that there may be more movement today from Teheran as Iranians return to work after a public holiday.
Yesterday the British ambassador, Geoffrey Adams, met his counterpart in the Iraqi foreign ministry seeking access to the prisoners.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are waiting to get a response to that. At the Ambassador's request he went to a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign affairs in Teheran to press again for the release of our personnel, ask where they are being held and ask for consular access."
Last night it was reported that Iran may give consular access once an investigation is completed.
Lord Triesman, a Foreign Office minister, said: "We don't know where they are. We wish we did. We are asking whether they are being moved around inside Iran."
The Foreign Office refused to comment on reports that the Iranian military had extracted confessions from the team from the frigate Cornwall, saying this was "speculation".
The team was seized on the eve of Saturday's UN security council vote to impose further sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme
Relations between Britain and Iran have deteriorated recently, partly because of the row over Iran's nuclear programme and partly because of Iraq.
But Foreign Offices sources said Iran was viewing the prisoners and its dispute with the UN as separate issues.
I dunno. It does take time to spool up the SAS for an op....
The Brits will beat them by playing that Britania song?
The Maggie days are over. The will do nothing.
I hope I am wrong and I can be mocked, but I think not.
If Reagan or Maggie were calling the shots, the Iranian Navy would have been turned into new reef material by now.
I think Blairs words (in British diplomacy-speak) are very strong, esp after his relative silence thus far.
No direct ultimatum, but allowing a bit of room for Iran to save just a bit of face if it chooses......tomorrow will probably show the direction this will go.
He has to give his intel a chance to work before any kind of rescue operation is mounted.
a number of profound differences: if Blair is about to leave office, this incident will be what people remember about him. couple that with the fact that the UK (with the US) have quite a few assets in the area with which to do something.
a direct slap at the British Navy that once ruled the oceans - if UK does nothing, the prestige they lose will be enormous , and repercussions will be enormous. for example, the Argies will try to take the Falklands again
When it's all over, they'll be inviting Iranian refugees to settle in the UK, thus making their immigration problem worse.
Heh! They're probably working up a "sternly worded" statement right now!
I think intel is trying to find out if the order to seize the 15 came from up high....or if this was IRGC rogue operation. I know there is a report that claims the order was given on March 18th.....but lets see if that report is confirmed by the Brits.
Properly, Iran should be told that they must return the captives by (deadline- short) or we bomb the hell out of Iran the day after the deadline. Then, if the captives are not returned, we bomb the hell out of Iran. If the captives are returned we thank Iran profusely and praise Iran for its Cooperation, wait 2 days and bomb the hell out of Iran.
Fraid it's not TOny. Their welfare is important, but not nearly as important as sending a FIRM message to Tehran that ANY attacks and captures of UK personnel will be met with SOLID, non-diplospeak military measures.
If the Cornwall had sunk one or two of those iranian boats, the UK would now be ACTING, instead of REACTING! The FIRM message should have been sent in 2004 when they did this before. It wasn't and here we are. Iran sees that they have no downside to capturing any UK personnel so why not?
These foaming at the mouth mad dogs don't attack strength, they attack weakness and they interpret all this mealy-mouthed, touchy-feely negotiations as weakness.
If Reagan------- were calling the shots, the Iranian Navy would have been turned into new reef material by now.
You mean like in Beirut?
They took your people, they still have your people, and they are listening to you blather on about being "unhappy" with the situation while you do nothing. I submit, Sir, they know EXACTLY how "seriously you regard this act".
Days..?? How about IMMEDIATLY!
Do you ever get tired of the snide and irresponsible comments that are posted on FR these days? I do. This IS a serious situation, but every know-all-ogist on the forum just has to stand up and beat their chest and say some of the dumbest things during a time of crisis.
Give him some slack.
Damn straight, Dog!
My recommendation: Capture the Iranian sub, and get its code books and comms technology and other assets. Work from there.
The Iranians released the hostages when Reagan took office. But after that, he never really bothered them again, even though they went right back to their provocations. So I don't think Reagan would necessarily have done anything differently here. Now Maggie is another matter...
Stamp their foot?
"Blair: Iran must free naval prisoners in days-(Or what?)"
What do you mean "or what?"
They'll use higher level diplomacy. And if that doesn't work then they'll attack them with "tough language", and if that still doesn't work, then they'll have no choice but to use their ultimate weapon - a package of incentives.
I pity the poor Iranians!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.