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.
Do you ever get tired of the snide and irresponsible comments that are posted on FR these days? I do.
Excellent point. Play it somewhat cool for a few days while you get things ready, consult with US. etc. Then demand their return immediately. I pray that's the scenerio.
I worked with the British military when I was in the military. They're tough and gritty; they don't play around when its time to get serious. We sure as hell should back them up if they need us.
Or he will give the Iranian leadership a very stern reprimand.
ping
How many saboteurs and terrorists do the Iranians have in place all over the world (and remember, they fund terror so it wouldn't necessarily be Iranians)?
If you decide for an invasion, how are you going to get everyone on board? What about the Russians, who are too close and are very touchy about attcks on a sometime ally?
And what if when you decide to go militarily against Iran, what are you going to do if all those North Koreans decide to take Seoul?
It's all well and good to say that someone needs to take action, but it isn't an easy decision, and the consequences could be horrific, especially for Israel.
Taking out its govt, the mullahs, and a huge chunk of its military and the major known nuke sites without widespread civilian damage would probably be more prudent.
This is no time to got wobbly, Tony.
I agree. I think they should have fought back right off the bat and not allowed this kidnapping, which was essentially what it was, but they didn't and now the situation has become much more complicated. The time for immediate response has passed. So what's next?
I don't know, but I do think that Blair is probably considering many non-diplomatic options as well, and we'll probably have a better idea what's going on by tomorrow. (Which is actually already today for UK Freepers!)
He's very hampered by Britain's (and our) failure to respond to similar incidents in the past, as well as by the sign of weakness given out by the Iraq withdrawal timetable. I assume he and W are in communication over all this.
I agree,Blair deserves a chance to play the diplomatic card.That being said the "sanctions" that were being reported earlier as a reply to this aggression is a weak and pitiful response !!!
How about making the Iranians do some worrying...
"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."
Or else he will give them a few more days.
I'm not sure it's orchestrated, but I did notice a poster I definitely thought to be a lefty troll popping up on several Iran threads today. So I'm sure there's some attempt being made to get a negative feeling going here.
Nahh.. The MSM will blame Bush for it and Britain will turn against America and Bush will get impeached for this.
Why do I see this coming?
The West is slowly giving way to Islam.
Parts of the French fleet are in the gulf. What if there were a French/Iranian 'Pearl Harbor' knife-in-the-back attack?
To repeat what I have said on other threads on this topic: I am getting peeved by the apparent impression on here that Britain lacks what I believe Texans call 'cajones'. People seem to misunderstand the UK calm approach and national trait of supreme understatement as weakness and a sign we are all talk and no trousers. Iran needs to think on this: In the last 10 years alone we have moved from talking to shooting in: Sierra Leonne, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq + 1 or 2 other incidents in Africa that don't get so much press attention. That makes us, with the United States, the most trigger happy nation on the planet at the moment. Aside from yourselves, no other nation on Planet Earth have shown themselves as willing to use force against other Sovereign states. No prime minister since world war two (including Thatcher) has sanctioned the use of lethal military force as often as Tony Blair. The Iranians are making a mistake and are foolish if they think there is a line we wont cross. We don't do the sabre rattling. But when need be we do do the sabre.
Toche!
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