Blair: Seizure of British sailors by Iran “wrong and unjustified”

Iran Focus: London, Mar. 25 – British Prime Minister Tony Blair called the seizure of 15 British sailors and marines by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards near the Persian Gulf last week “unjustified and wrong”. At a press conference, he rejected claims by Iranian officials that the British troops had strayed into Iranian waters. Iran Focus

London, Mar. 25 – British Prime Minister Tony Blair called the seizure of 15 British sailors and marines by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards near the Persian Gulf last week “unjustified and wrong”. At a press conference, he rejected claims by Iranian officials that the British troops had strayed into Iranian waters.

“There is no doubt at all that these people were taken from a boat in Iraqi waters”, Blair told reporters.

“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”, he added.

The following is a partial text of the press conference:

Question: Prime Minister, we understand that (inaudible) granted access to the military personnel being held in Iran. How concerned are you about the situation escalating and what steps can you take to bring pressure to bear on Tehran?

Prime Minister: I have not been commenting up to now on this because I want to get it resolved in an as easy and diplomatic way as possible because it is the welfare of the people concerned that have been taken by the Iranian government that is most important. But this is a very serious situation and there is no doubt at all that these people were taken from the boat in Iraqi waters – it is simply not true that they went into Iranian territorial waters – and I hope the Iranian government understand how fundamental an issue this is for us. We have certainly sent those messages back to them very, very clearly indeed. I hope that this can be resolved over the next few days, but the quicker it is resolved the easier it will be for all of us. But they should not be under any doubt at all about how seriously we regard this act which was unjustified and wrong.