Iran broadcast video on Friday of a captured British sailor who
said he and 14 colleagues had entered Iranian waters illegally,
ramping up tension over the week-long crisis.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed disgust at the
broadcasting of footage of three of the captives and said Iran
risked further isolation unless it released them but London said
Teheran showed no sign of seeking a way out of the crisis.
"We trespassed without permission," said the sailor, who gave
his name as Nathan Thomas Summers and said they were being treated
well. "I would like to apologize for entering your waters without
any permission ... I deeply apologize."
Iran seized 15 British sailors and marines in the northern Gulf
last Friday when they were on a UN mission. Teheran says they had
strayed into Iranian waters but Britain insists they were well
within Iraqi territory.
The crisis, at a time of heightened Middle East tensions over
Iran's nuclear ambitions, has helped pushed oil prices to six-month
highs over concerns an escalation might curb crucial oil exports
from the region.
The video showed two men in khaki uniforms and a woman in blue
fatigues and a headscarf talking calmly and smiling in a room with
a floral wallpaper background.
Blair criticized the video broadcast but urged patience in
dealing with Iran, and said London would consult its key allies
over the weekend.
"I really don't know why the Iranian regime keeps doing this.
All it does is enhance peoples' disgust at captured personnel being
paraded and manipulated in this way," he said.
"What the Iranians have to realize is that if they continue in
this way they will face increasing isolation."
The video release came as Britain said it was considering a note
from Teheran that appeared to resemble a statement used to resolve
a similar standoff in 2004 when Iran seized eight British
servicemen and held them for three days.
However Britain's Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said after
the video was shown that there was nothing in the note from Iran to
suggest Teheran was looking for a way out.
The letter said Iran respected the rules and principles of
international law concerning the territorial integrity of states
and that Britain must accept its responsibility for the
consequences of any border violation.
The letter did not appear to demand an apology from Britain as
several Iranian officials had previously called for.
London has been pushing for international condemnation of the
sailors' seizure but failed to get the UN Security Council to pass
a strongly worded draft statement. Instead, it expressed "grave
concern" about the issue.
Britain froze all diplomatic business with Iran on Wednesday,
except for dealings over the sailors, and hoped its European Union
partners would adopt similar measures.
EU foreign ministers voiced solidarity at a summit in Germany
but were reluctant as a bloc to freeze business with Teheran over
the row.
Friday's video was the second Iran has shown. It has also
released two letters purported to have been written by the only
woman captured, Faye Turney. In one letter, she called for the
withdrawal of British troops from Iraq.
(China Daily via agencies March 31, 2007)
