Iran confirms seizure of British boats

Iranian Foreign Ministry on Monday confirmed the seizure of three British boats in the Shatt al-Arab waterway, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"This morning, three British boats with eight crew entered the Islamic Republic's territorial waters and Iranian naval guards, acting upon their legal duty, seized the boats and detained their occupants," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi was quoted as saying.

"At the moment, these individuals are being interrogated and an investigation is underway to clarify the matter," Asefi added.

A Defense Office spokesman in London confirmed that the British Royal Navy lost contact with three vessels Monday morning and they were part of a team sent to the region to train Iraq's naval patrols.

British Foreign Office and Iranian officials are discussing the circumstances in which the vessels were seized, the official said.

Iran's state Arabic language news channel reported earlier in the day that Iran had seized three British naval boats that entered its territorial waters and detained eight sailors aboard.

The Iranian navy has confiscated three British boats that entered Iranian territorial waters and detained eight sailors, and on the boat, they found weapons and maps, the report said.

The British boats reportedly entered the Iranian area of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which is the boundary between Iran and Iraq. The detained sailors later said that they had made a mistake.

The seizure came shortly after Britain, along with France and Germany, accused Iran of being less than fully cooperative with the International Atomic Energy Agency on the inspection of its nuclear program.

Source: Xinhua