Iranian forces detained fifteen British sailors off the HMS Cornwall on Friday, accusing the Royal Navy of entering their territorial waters.
The incident reportedly occurred in Shatt al-Arab waterway, which marks Iraq's southern border with Iran. The specific coordinates of the incident are in dispute, as the Royal Navy says the Cornwall was inspecting an Iranian merchant ship in Iraqi territorial waters.
The UK Ministry of Defence released a statement:
"The group 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."We are urgently pursuing this matter with the Iranian authorities at the highest level.
"The British government is demanding the immediate and safe return of our people and equipment."
According to a US military source that spoke to CNN:
The Marines stopped an Iranian ship suspected of smuggling automobiles, and boarded it for an inspection.While the Marines were on board, six Navy ships from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard showed up and claimed the British had entered Iranian waters.
A dispute ensued over whether the Marines were in Iraqi, international, or Iranian territorial waters, and the 15 were then seized and taken to Iran, the U.S. military official said.
In 2004, a similar incident occurred, and though the Iranian government grumbled about prosecuting, those sailors were released within days.
Stay tuned to Slogger as we track the developments on this story......
