Iran ratchets up tension over hostage stand-off

David Byers and Richard Beeston in Riyadh

Times Online

Iran further raised the stakes in the diplomatic stand-off with Britain tonight by releasing a second letter said to have been written by Royal Navy rating Faye Turney.

In the the hand-written note, released by the Iranians to Sky News, Leading Seaman Turney is said to have called for the withdrawal from British troops from Iraq.

There was no immediate response from the Foreign Office, however it is likely to raise concerns fresh concerns that it was written under some form of duress.

The letter, dated March 27, was addressed to “representatives of the House of Commons” and states: “Isn’t it time for us to start withdrawing our forces from Iraq and let them determine their own future?"

Iranian television also aired new footage apparently showing the capture of 15 Royal Navy personnel.

In the five-second clip of film gunshots can be heard and a helicopter is shown hovering above inflatable boats in choppy seas.

The video, shown on Iranian state television, then switches to an Iranian military official who outlines the Iranian position that the British vessels had strayed into their national waters.

The letter and footage was released as Britain continued attempts to finalise a UN Security Council resolution condemning the seizure, calling for the captives' immediate release and declaring they was taken during a routine patrol in Iraqi waters under a UN mandate.

The UK has called for the resolution after freezing all bilateral ties with Iran except for contacts directly related to the hostage crisis.

After accusing Britain of making a "fuss", Iran this afternoon responded by going back on its promise that Leading Seaman Turney would be released, claiming that she would now remain in captivity.

The crisis, which has contributed to oil prices surging to a six-month high of over $65 a barrel, was discussed between Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, and his Iranian counterpart at the Arab League Summit in Riyadh. Mr Zebari said that that he had demanded that the sailors be freed.

"Our information is that they were arrested and detained in Iraqi territorial waters," he said.

"On the basis of our good neighbourly relations, we regard it as a pure accident and we urge the Iranians to release them. He promised me that they had been investigating the case and promised me that the lady will be released today or tomorrow.

"I felt a real sense that they want to resolve this issue. We told them any escalation in the current circumstances will not be useful... He got the message very clearly."

As the diplomatic standoff intensified, Tony Blair condemned as a "disgrace" images released yesterday showing what appeared to be a choreographed statement made by 26-year-old Leading Seaman Faye Turney, the only female detainee, while in Iranian captivity. Smoking heavily, Ms Turney said she had "obviously" strayed into Iranian waters.

"I just think it’s completely wrong, a disgrace actually, when people are used in that way," the Prime Minister said, speaking on ITV.

"That’s contrary to all international laws and conventions, and is not going to make any difference to us.

"We need all 15 released because they were doing their job under a United Nations mandate. There is no justification whatsoever for taking them in that way."

The footage of Leading Seaman Turney, her blonde hair covered in a black headscarf, had showed her saying that she and her colleagues were being treated well by their "friendly, hospitable, thoughtful and nice" captors.

The crisis comes against the background of a wider diplomatic battle between Iran and the West over its nuclear programme and its resumption last year of uranium enrichment, which has prompted sanctions from the UN Security Council.

The Iranians have also been accused of fomenting insurgent activity in southern Iraq, where it is said to fund and organise Shia Muslim militias blamed for attacks on British forces.

After five days of discreet diplomacy failed to produce a breakthrough, the Ministry of Defence went public with its satellite evidence which showed that the two inflatable patrol boats in which the captured sailors had been operating were 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi waters when they were "ambushed" by Iranian warships.

Both Tony Blair and Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, joined in - Mr Blair describing the seizure as "illegal" and Mrs Beckett announcing a freeze in ties. The MoD also accused Iran of having changed its story after initially giving map coordinates that proved the seizure was in Iraqi waters.

Ramping up the tension, the Iranian consul in Basra charged that British soldiers had surrounded his office in the southern Iraqi city this morning and fired shorts into the air in a "provocative act" that "could worsen the situation of the British sailors".

"British forces should rely on wisdom and not react because of the British forces’ detention. This reflects negatively on bilateral relations," said Consul-General Mohammed Ridha Nasir Baghban.

Britain denied the allegation. The Ministry of Defence said that the was an exchange of gunfire after UK troops on a foot patrol near the consulate building were ambushed.