Iran kidnapped the 8 british soldiers

[Vanhalen 0]

Eight British servicemen claim they were "forcibly escorted into Iranian territorial waters" before being taken captive, the defence secretary has said.

Geoff Hoon said the six Royal Marines and two Royal Navy sailors maintained they had been operating in Iraq's waters and had not strayed into Iran's.

 

The servicemen were held for three days sparking a stand-off with Britain.

 

Shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram said Iran should issue a "full apology" if the claims are true.

 

In a statement released by the Ministry of Defence, Mr Hoon said the MoD was looking into the servicemen's claim.

 

Mr Hoon also expressed concern about "the blindfolding of the men" during their captivity and added the UK had made representations to ... Iran."

 

'Humiliated'

 

Mr Ancram described the alleged treatment of the servicemen as "absolutely outrageous" and demanded a "full apology" from Iranian authorities if the claims are true.

 

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "This creates an extraordinary strain on Iranian-British relations.

 

"If we are to have a good relationship with Iran it must be on the basis of mutual confidence and trust - this undermines that."

 

Mr Ancram also told Today that he felt the servicemen had been "humiliated" while being detained as they were "paraded" by the Iranians.

 

For the Lib Dems Paul Keetch said: "This is potentially a new twist to the story. The GPS [global positioning system] equipment has yet to be returned. When it is, it may well shed more light on the matter."

 

The men were captured after their patrol boats were said to have strayed by mistake into the Iranian side of the Shatt al-Arab waterway.

 

Iran said the vessels had entered its waters without prior permission.

 

But Mr Hoon said: "In a recent debriefing the crews have said that they were operating inside the Iraqi border and were forcibly escorted into Iranian territorial waters.

 

"Our assessment continues and will be greatly assisted by the retrieval of navigational information in the Global Positioning System equipment carried by the crews."

 

Mr Hoon said the Iranians had failed to comply with Tuesday's deadline to return equipment carried by the men including three boats, radios and navigational equipment, weapons and ammunition.

 

Following the servicemen's release Iran's foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi said the equipment would be returned.

 

One of the men returned home on Wednesday due to medical reasons connected with the incident and a further two were sent back to Britain as their tour of duty had ended.

 

The remaining five are continuing their work in Iraq.

 

The MoD said the detainees had been part of a Royal Navy training team heading to Basra when they were detained by Iranian guards.

 

They had been helping to re-train the Iraqi river patrol on a waterway renowned for its use by smugglers and foreign militants trying to infiltrate Iraq.

 

The southern stretch of the Shatt al-Arab forms the border between Iran and Iraq.

[Guest INXS]

Iran are denying this, the Tories have asked Geoff Hoon to provide evidence to back up these claims.