March 23 (Bloomberg) -- Iran seized 15 British sailors and Marines who were conducting "routine boarding operations" in Iraqi waters, the U.K. Ministry of Defence said.
"The boarding party had completed a successful inspection of a merchant ship when they and their two boats were surrounded and escorted by Iranian vessels into Iranian territorial waters," the ministry said in an e-mailed statement. "We are urgently pursuing this matter with the Iranian authorities at the highest level."
Iran's foreign ministry confirmed seizing the Britons "for investigation and questioning" and said it was because British sailors have illegally entered its own territorial waters "a number of times," Agence France-Presse reported, citing Iranian State television. |