Diplomatic Actions
The Iranian ambassador to the UK was summoned to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 23 March to see Peter Ricketts, the Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, was asked to explain the incident and told that Britain required the servicemen to be returned. He was summoned again on 24 March to see Lord Triesman, a junior foreign office minister, to reiterate Britain's demand that the personnel be released with their equipment.
On 25 March the British ambassador to Iran went to the Iranian foreign ministry. The Iranians said he had been summoned so they could protest against "the illegal entry of British sailors into Iranian territorial waters". However the British said the meeting was at their request and that they had asked both for the immediate release of the personnel and for consular access to them. Prime Minister Tony Blair said if diplomacy fails he will take other measures to release the British sailors and marines. When asked what other measures he refused to answer directly if military action was a possibility.
Iran's foreign minister stated that Britain must admit to its "mistake" before the issue can be solved.
On 28 March, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki stated that British servicewoman Faye Turney would be released by 29 March, at the latest. He maintained that the British personnel were illegally operating in Iranian waters, but stated that their presence may have been an honest mistake.
On 29 March the head of Iran's supreme national security council, Ali Larijani, announced a suspension of the release of Faye Turney, stating that the announcement of the release had been met with an "incorrect attitude". Meanwhile, Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, had been meeting with Iranian officials during a summit in Riyadh. A letter supposedly authored by Faye Turney calling for British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq was also published by Iran.
On 4 April reports emerged, later confirmed by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, that an Iranian representative will meet the five Iranian government employees captured in January in a U.S. raid on an Iranian liaison office in Arbil, although this would not be an official consular visit. The U.S. rejected any suggestion that the British naval personnel would be swapped for the five Iranian officials.
Read more about this topic: 2007 Iranian Seizure Of Royal Navy Personnel
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