Iran: British vessels confiscated
TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran has confiscated three British vessels that had crossed into Iran's territorial waters and arrested eight sailors aboard the ships, the Iranian foreign ministry says.
The sailors are being interrogated, the ministry said Monday.
The British Ministry of Defense said it lost communications with a team of eight personnel on three small boats. A ministry spokesman said the boats seized are the type used to train the Iraqi river patrol service and to stop smuggling, including the smuggling of Iraqi oil.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq said the three ships were part of a training mission that had departed from Basra in southern Iraq.
A statement from Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said the three vessels were in the Shatt al-Arab waterway that separates part of Iran from Iraq and crossed into the portion that is Iranian territory.
Iran's Naval officers are instructed to arrest anyone who illegally crosses into the territory, the statement said.
On state-run Al-Alam television, the Iranian government said weapons and maps were confiscated from the British ships.
A British Ministry of Defense spokesman said, "The team that we've lost contact with consisted of three small boats and a total of eight personnel. Indications are that this patrol is the same as is being reported in Iranian press."
The spokesman said the boats are the types used to train the Iraqi river patrol service in the waterway. Each boat carries a maximum of four people.
Relations between Tehran and London have come under strain in recent weeks. Britain has joined other key U.N. members in accusing Iran of being uncooperative with the U.N. nuclear watchdog body. (Full story)
