Thursday, 28-March-2024 11:10
 
comments in
"News"
JMP rally offends military and security, provokes governorates
Shamlan is nothing but a puppet for the opposition parties to execute their PR agenda in this campai ...
No security incidents reported during election campaigns
you probably should not be too optimistic - too early to say
Sudanese official arrives in Sana'a
HI this intersting web sait and usefull .ihope to find alot of information about yemen beacause we ...
Sudanese official arrives in Sana'a
i like all yhe artical in this pAGE .SO I WANT TO THANK YOU
President Saleh returns home after 3-nation tour
Try to be honest to yourselves and don't steal articles which you didn't translate. Translator of t ...
News
Saturday, 31-March-2007
Almotamar Net - TEHRAN, Iran — A captive Royal Marine was shown in new TV footage Friday apologizing for being in Iranian waters, and Tehran made public a third letter supposedly written by the only woman prisoner among 15 Britons seized by Irans Revolutionary Guards. almotamar.net google news - TEHRAN, Iran — A captive Royal Marine was shown in new TV footage Friday apologizing for being in Iranian waters, and Tehran made public a third letter supposedly written by the only woman prisoner among 15 Britons seized by Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
Britain sharply denounced Iran over the treatment of the captives — a clear sign both sides were hardening their stance as the crisis entered its second week.
Iran appeared intent on sending a message of strength as it faces mounting U.N. Nations sanctions over its uranium enrichment program, which the U.S. and other nations suspect the Islamic Republic is using to develop nuclear weapons.
Underlining Iran's hardline sentiment, some 60,000 soccer fans chanted "Death to Britain" at a match in Tehran, while 700 people rallying near Tehran University yelled "We condemn the British invasion!" A Muslim cleric told worshippers during Friday prayers that "Britain is an aggressor and Iran has confronted it."
In the latest video broadcast by Iranian state television, Royal Marine rifleman Nathan Thomas Summers was pictured while sitting with another male captive, both in fatigues, and female British sailor Faye Turney in a blue jumpsuit and a black head scarf.
The three were among 15 British sailors and marines detained by Iranian naval units March 23 while patrolling for smugglers near the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab, a waterway that has long been a disputed dividing line between Iraq and Iran.
"We trespassed without permission," Summers said in the video shown on Iran's Arabic-language channel Al-Alam. "I deeply apologize for entering your waters."
The video, the second broadcast of the detainees in three days, drew indignation from British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who accused Tehran of manipulating the prisoners.
"All it does is enhance people's sense of disgust. Captured personnel being paraded and manipulated in this way doesn't fool anyone," Blair said. "What the Iranians have to realize is that if they continue in this way, they will face increasing isolation."
It was not known whether the marine spoke under pressure from his captors, but Summers said in the broadcast that "our treatment has been very friendly."
Iran also released a third letter supposedly written by the sole female detainee in which she says she has been "sacrificed" by Britain. She said she was sorry for straying into Iranian waters and asked if it wasn't time for Britain to withdraw its troops from Iraq.
"I am writing to you as a British serviceperson who has been sent to Iraq, sacrificed due to the intervening policies of the Bush and Blair governments," the letter said, using even more stilted language than the previous letters.
The European Union warned Iran of undefined "appropriate measures" if the British naval team remained in captivity and called on Iran to inform the British government of their whereabouts and give British diplomats access — a British request that Iran so far has denied.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad Ali Hosseini, condemned the warning, saying Europeans should not take a collective stance in support of Britain. He said statements by some EU officials were "unreasonable, illogical" and Iran considered them "interference in its internal affairs."
The office of the Turkish prime minister, who is trying to mediate the dispute, said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had indicated his government was willing to reconsider freeing Turney, who is married and has a 3-year-old daughter.
Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, had suggested Wednesday that Turney would be freed soon, but the following day the semiofficial Iranian news agency Mehr said her release was canceled. It quoted Iran's military chief as blaming "wrong behavior" by the British government.
British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, who denounced Friday's video as "appalling," said a letter from Iran on the detention of the 15 sailors and marines would not help resolve the standoff.
"There is nothing in the letter to suggest that the Iranians are looking for a way out," she told British Broadcasting Corp.
The letter stopped short of asking for a formal apology but instead asked for Britain to acknowledge its naval team trespassed into Iranian waters and confirm it would not happen again.
The sailors and marines, part of a U.N.-mandated force patrolling the Persian Gulf, were seized while searching merchant ships for evidence of smuggling. Britain insists the team was in Iraqi waters and has said no admission of error would be made.
Iraqi officials have backed Britain's account, saying again Friday that the Royal Navy personnel were captured in Iraq's territorial waters. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said his government was in contact with Iran to "ensure the wise handling of the case."
Britain has frozen most contacts with Iran and taken the issue to the U.N. Security Council, which expressed "grave concern" Thursday over Iran's seizure of the Britons. Russia, which blocked a stronger council statement, called Friday for an independent U.N. inquiry.
Iran said Friday that the Security Council had no place in what it called a purely bilateral dispute. "The British government's attempt to engage third parties, including the Security Council, with this case is not helpful," it said.
The statement, released by the Iranian mission at the United Nations and in London, said the British and Iranian governments "have been closely examining and discussing the case in order to settle it in a mutually acceptable manner."
The recent rise in world oil prices to six-month highs cooled some Friday, but traders remained jittery that the situation could lead to a disruption of petroleum shipments out of the Gulf.

More from "News"

Other titles:
Tuesday, 17-October-2017
The United Arab Emirates acknowledged on Tuesday that two of its pilots were killed when their military aggression plane crashed over Jawf province, a military official said

The official added that the aggressive crashed plane was an apache that was
Tuesday, 17-October-2017
Three citizens were killed and four others wounded in two Saudi air strikes hit Majza district of Saada province, an official said on Tuesday.

The strikes hit a citizen's car in al-Jamalah area in the district, the official added.
Tuesday, 17-October-2017
Artillery of the army and popular shelled a gathering of Saudi-paid mercenaries in al-Moqadra area in Serwah district of Marib province, a military official said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, dozens of Saudi-paid mercenaries were killed and others injured in Wadi al-Theek in the district, the official added.
Monday, 16-October-2017
The army and popular forces carried out on Monday unique military operations in Taiz province.

A military official said that a number of Saudi-paid mercenaries were killed at the hands of the army and popular forces in al-Jazami Hill in al-Kadaha area in al-Ma'afer district.
Monday, 16-October-2017
A Saudi aggression fighter jet targeted a citizen's car driving in Fara area of Kutaf district in Saada province overnight, killing the driver and injuring his friend, a security official said on Monday.
Monday, 16-October-2017
The army artillery and popular committees launched a fierce attack on Saudi-paid mercenaries' sites in Jawf province, a military official said on Monday.

The attack destroyed a military vehicle belonging to the mercenaries and killed all on board in Sabran area in khab and shaaf district.
Sunday, 15-October-2017
Scores of Saudi enemy soldiers were killed and injured on Sunday when the army and popular forces repelled a Saudi military attempt to sneak into Shurfah site in the border province of Najran, a military official said.

The operation was accomplished successfully against the Saudi
Sunday, 15-October-2017
The army and popular committees have killed a total of 18 Saudi-paid mercenaries in sniper operations over the past hours in the central province of Marib, a military official said on Sunday.

Ten mercenaries were killed in Nehm district and eight others were killed in Serwah district, said the official.
Saturday, 14-October-2017
Saudi aggression warplanes have launched more than 49 airstrikes over the past hours on several residential areas across Yemen, a security official said on Sunday.
The airstrikes targeted the areas of Malahiz and Husama in Dhahir district, and areas Thuban, Masahif and Sdad in Bakim district of northern Saada province.
Thursday, 12-October-2017
The army and popular forces carried out an operation attack on Saudi-paid mercenaries' sites in al-Hawal area in Nehm district.

A local official said that the operation attack resulted in killing and injuring mercenaries, adding they also incurred heavy losses at their ranks

who we are     |    Advertising     |    contact us
All rights reserved © Almotamar Net, Developed by