Iran may charge Brits as spies (indictments possibly coming)

Sunday Times via The Australian ^ | March 26, 2007 | Correspondents in New York and London

[jdm]

FIFTEEN British sailors and marines arrested by Iran off the coast of Iraq could be charged with spying and held until the US releases five Iranian Revolutionary Guards seized by US forces in Iraq earlier this year.

Reports yesterday said a website run by associates of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had reported that the arrested Britons would be put before a court and indicted.

Referring to them as "insurgents", the site said: "If it is proven that they deliberately entered Iranian territory, they will be charged with espionage. If that is proven, they can expect a very serious penalty since, according to Iranian law, espionage is one of the most serious offences."

[gpapa]

IBTZ

[FreedomNeocon]

Don't bother... the punk signed up literally today, probably just for this thread. Super lame.

[racing fan]

This kitty wants to come out and play.

[Skywarner]

"The British have no right to be inside of their territorial boundaries period. - The Iranians have every legal right to prosecute those that break their laws, we would do the same if Iranian boats were inside of our national boundaries."

Ummm, what is your source for validating that the British forces were violating territorial boundaries? Iran?!?

Everyone involved, even some Iraqi fisherman who work the same waters, have publicly stated that the Brits were in Iraqi waters as accepted by the UN of all organizations.

The only party saying anything to the contrary is Iran. Gee, big surprise there, huh?

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

Ordered:
Laid down: 14 December 1983
Launched: 14 October 1985
Commissioned: 23 April 1988
Decommissioned:
Fate: Active in service as of 2007.
Struck:
General Characteristics
Displacement: 5,300 t
Length: 148.1 m (485.9 ft)
Beam: 14.8 m (48.5 ft)
Draught:
Propulsion: 2 x Rolls Royce Spey gas turbines (high speed)
2 x Rolls Royce Tyne gas turbines (cruising)

Speed: 18 knots using Tynes (36.8 km/h)
30 knots using Speys (56 km/h) 32 knots COGAG (Both sets of engines)(59.2 km/h)

Range:
Complement: 250 (max 301)
Armament: 114 mm (4.5 inch) MK 8 gun

Goalkeeper close-in weapons system (CIWS)
Sea Wolf anti-missile system
Two Quad Harpoon missile launchers
Two 20 mm Close range guns
Two Triple anti-submarine torpedo tubes
NATO Seagnat Decoy Launchers
Two Magazine launched anti submarine torpedo tubes

Aircraft: Lynx MK 8 helicopters

armed with:
Sea Skua anti-ships missiles
Stingray anti-submarine torpedoes
Mk 11 depth charges
Machine guns


Motto: unus et omnes
Latin: "one and all"
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu8IkpgZGShsBMNlXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE2YnB0cGxiBGNvbG8DZQRsA1dTMQRwb3MDMQRzZWMDc3IEdnRpZANGOTExXzg4/SIG=11tk7ihdm/EXP=1174927268/**http%3a//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Cornwall
~~~~~~~~~~~Look at the size of this ship~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How far away from the ship were these rubber-boats ?
How far does the Mk. 8 gun shoot ??22km (11.9nm)

~~~~~~~~~~~
The Shatt al-Arab (Arabic: ÔØ ÇáÚÑÈ, "Coast of the Arabs") or the Arvandrud (called ÇÑæäÏÑæÏ: arvandrud in Persian) , is a river in Southwest Asia of some 200 km in length, formed by the confluence of the Euphrates and the Tigris in the town of al-Qurnah in the Basra Governorate of southern Iraq. The southern end of the river constitutes the border between Iraq and Iran down to the mouth of the river as it discharges into the Persian Gulf. It varies in width from about 760 feet (232 m) at Basra to 0.5 mile (0.8 km) at its mouth. The Karun river, a tributary which joins Shatt al-Arab from the Iranian side, deposits copious amounts of silt into the river; this necessitates continuous dredging to keep it navigable.
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu5aSqQZGIYUAdaRXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE2YnB0cGxiBGNvbG8DZQRsA1dTMQRwb3MDMQRzZWMDc3IEdnRpZANGOTExXzg4/SIG=125bf8liq/EXP=1174928146/**http%3a//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvand/Shatt_al-Arab
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~How Deep is it ??~~~~~~~~~~~~Don't Know.~~
IMHO the HMS Cornwall was too far away to fire in support.
Too large to enter these waters without risking running aground ,coming under fire and losing the ship.

Hint) Rubber-boats were used for a reason.
They were"in" the waterway according to the articles posted
on FR,,,I cannot find out "how far"?

[dr_who_2]

Act of war.

[UKrepublican]

As several fisherman have come forward to testify also.

[shield]

Now wait a minute...these sailors were in uniform right?

[shield]

Mohammad is the false prophet spoken of in Revelations!!!

[Pikachu_Dad]

[quote]Its been reported that the captain frantically called command back in UK and was told to "stand down".[/quote]

That is a good time for 'radio problems'.

Except to the American F16's, etc.

[Pub Linkser--80]

We don't want to attack them now. It's still too soon. A limited attack now would give nationalistic support to Ahmadinutjob and strengthen his hand. Instead we need to restrict trade with Iran, weaken Iran's economy, lower the standard of living, freeze the mullahs' vast foreign assets, and make Nutjob the bad guy inside his own country. Then hopefully his own country will turn on him and his hardline gang, and remove them from power. If that doesn't work, then we may need airstrikes in 4Q 2007 or 1Q 2008.

[Pub Linkser--80]

They're not spies. They are British sailors and marines. If Nutjob tries them for espionage, it will be a complete show trial for propaganda purposes with fabricated evidence. I detect increasing desperation and irrational impulsiveness by Nutjob and his gang.

[shield]

I have to agree...desperation...you've got the Russians leaving...however, on top of that...that's not being reported is the civil unrest taking place throughout Iran. Their are tribesmen that have taken back villages from the Republican Guard...lots of fighting taking place...and then you've got the extremely poor economy...and this is causing lots of civil unrest....the nutso prez...is on the verge of losing the presidency...if he can cause a confrontation...he thinks in his little pea brain that will unite the country...which is false the Iranians are extremely emboldened cause of all our military presence in the gulf right now.

[KantianBurke]

oh please. how about some sources? I'd wager cold hard cash that the majority of the Iranian population is either dangerously fanatical, cowed, uncaring or drug addicted.

[HitmanLV]

Iran knows that Blair won't get violent in this situation. The only people who seem to think the UK (or the US in a similar situation) would muscle up are here on FR.

[shield]

Ck out Dr. Jack Wheeler's site....plenty of info on what I've just stated.

[Pub Linkser--80]

That's some good information there. I just checked the corrupt MSM internet headlines, and just as expected some trivial stuff about AG Gonzalez was given more coverage than the critical events happening in Iran. The MSM is such a bad joke now. It's time to shut them down by Americans moving to indpendent news websites to get the real news.

[cake_crumb]

Ahmawhackjob is completely brain dead if he thinks the Brits are gonna take this one lying down.

[cake_crumb]

"The absurdity of equating routine legal maritime activities with having enemy combatants in a foreign country simply defies description"

More than that, international law is completely on the British side. Iran's schizophrenic ruling class is walking a very thin tightrope.

[UnChained]

"Islam is the false religion spoken of in Revelation...."

First time I ever heard that interpretation.

I SHALL consider it.