AP: Iranian state television on Thursday broadcast a few seconds of footage it said was of the operation that seized the 15 British soldiers in Iranian territorial waters. Assocaited Press
By NASSER KARIMI
Assocaited Press Writer
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iranian state television on Thursday broadcast a few seconds of footage it said was of the operation that seized the 15 British soldiers in Iranian territorial waters.
In the five-seconds long footage, gunshots were heard and a helicopter is shown hovering above inflatable boats in choppy seas. Iranian guard boats are shown cruising around while a couple of Iranian guardsmen shoot into the air. Then, some of the British sailors – including the captured British woman, Leading Seaman Faye Turney – appear seated in a boat with an Iranian flag, presumably after their capture.
The brief video did not show the actual moment when the Iranian Revolutionary Guard navy seized the 15 British soldiers last Friday.
Also in the broadcast, Iranian chief coastal guard of the Arvand River – which is the Farsi name for the Shatt el-Arab waterway – is interviewed in an office, before a map of the area.
Col. Setareh, who was not identified by his first name, reportedly explains how the seizure occurred and points to locations on the map of the place of detention.
In the video, the colonel also showed a small cubic shaped, silver GPS device belonging to the British and said the Iranians examined the device and that it clearly proved the British had violated Iranian waters several times before their detention.
“After checking their GPS device it was clear they had violated Iranian waters before,” said Col. Setareh.
He points to the map behind him with five blue squares – allegedly places and points of British incursions into Iranian waters. The map coordinates were not legible.
The footage was strikingly similar to the Wednesday briefing on the incident given by British Vice Admiral Charles Style, who released a map of the Shatt al-Arab purporting to show the coordinates of the British boat when it was captured, along with pictures of handheld GPS devices.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said its position remained unchanged by the Iranian footage.
In London, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said its position remained unchanged by the new footage.
On Wednesday, Iran broadcast the first pictures of the 15 British sailors and marines. In that video, Turney wore a white tunic and a black head scarf and said the British boats had “trespassed” in Iranian waters. At one point, a handwritten letter from Turney is shown, apologizing to the Iranian people for entering their waters. The British were also shown sitting in a room eating.
Wednesday’s footage was aired by Al-Alam, an Arabic-language, Iranian state-run television station. Thursday’s footage was first shown on the state TV channel.
