Bloomberg: The European Union called for the release of 15 British sailors and Marines seized by Iran yesterday in Iraqi waters, according to German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
EU urges Iran to free 15 U.K. sailors, marines ‘without delay’
Sec. Council set to ok sanctions on Iran
AP: Major powers expect unanimous approval Saturday of new U.N. Security Council sanctions to pressure Iran into suspending uranium enrichment.
India says won’t be pressured on Iran gas pipeline
Reuters: India will not be pressured into cancelling its plans to buy natural gas from Iran through a pipeline, Oil Minister Murli Deora said on Saturday.
British captives transferred to Iran capital
Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Mar. 24 Fifteen British Marines and Navy personnel who were seized on Friday by Iranian Revolutionary Guards on Irans southern shores have been transferred to Tehran, state radio reported on Saturday.
British captives transferred to Iran capital
Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Mar. 24 Fifteen British Marines and Navy personnel who were seized on Friday by Iranian Revolutionary Guards on Irans southern shores have been transferred to Tehran, state radio reported on Saturday.
Boss accused of bribery over Iran oil deal told: Don’t talk to Rafsanjani
The Scotsman: The French company chairman under investigation for alleged corruption involving deals with Iran has been banned from contacting the former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and his son Mehdi, it was revealed yesterday.
US and UK fail to find smoking gun
The Guardian: Although British and US military and diplomats often complain of Iranian support for insurgents in Iraq, there is no “smoking gun” to prove it, a senior British officer in Basra admitted yesterday.
Leading article: A perilous stand-off in the Gulf that is rooted in the calamitous Iraq war
The Independent: Yesterday’s capture of 15 British sailors and marines by Iranian forces precipitates a diplomatic crisis of the first order. The first visible effect yesterday was a sharp rise in the price of crude oil. A less visible effect was an even sharper rise in the international political temperature. The situation is now fraught with danger: for bilateral relations, for regional security – and for Tony Blair.
Again the aggressor
The Times – Leading Article: Shortly after the detention of 15 Royal Navy personnel by Iranian forces in the Gulf yesterday, the Iranian Ambassador to London was summoned to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The setting may have been diplomatic, but there was no call for overly diplomatic language. In Iraq, Iranian meddling and arms stand second only to sectarian hatred as contributing factors to the daily violence.
Foreign Office reads riot act to Tehran’s man in London
The Independent: Iran and Britain risk a dangerous escalation of tensions over the sailors’ kidnapping, which comes as the international drive to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions is reaching a climax.
