Julian Borger and Ewen MacAskill in Washington and Ian Black in Riyadh
Friday March 30, 2007
The Guardian
Britain was attempting yesterday to isolate Iran over its week-old detention of 15 marines and sailors, but there were no immediate signs that the diplomatic offensive had brought their release any closer. British diplomats were hopeful that international solidarity would force Iran's rulers to rethink and focused on rallying the international community to Britain's cause.
In New York last night, the UN security council issued a statement of rebuke for Iran's seizure of the British naval patrol last Friday. The statement, which expressed "grave concern" at the capture of the sailors, called on Tehran to allow consular access to the captured Britons and for an early resolution of the dispute and their release.
The wording, produced after four hours of debate, was less forceful than Britain had wanted. Russia balked at calls for the immediate release of the navy personnel, and for language saying they had been seized in Iraqi waters. But diplomats said they were satisfied the statement sent a clear message to Tehran.
Britain hopes a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Bremen today will issue a sharper statement. It was encouraged by France's decision to summon Iran's ambassador to Paris to the foreign ministry to demand the Britons' swift release. The EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, took a tough line yesterday, calling for an end to the "illegal" detention. "What Iran has to do is to liberate immediately all the soldiers," Mr Solana told reporters. "We want to have good relations with Iran, and this does not help."
In meetings at an Arab League summit in Riyadh, Arab diplomats and the UN's secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, also added pressure on Iran to free the captives. British officials said they were pleased with the level of Arab support and said some Gulf states were concerned about a recent rise in Iranian naval incursions into their own territorial waters.
Mr Ban raised the fate of the detainees with Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki. A UN statement said he had expressed his wish "to see an early resolution of this problem".
Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq's foreign minister, also raised the issue of the captives in talks with Mr Mottaki. "We had a good meeting with the Iranian minister," Mr Zebari said. "I passed on a message asking for the release of the soldiers. They are working at our invitation - they are part of the MNF [multi-national force in Iraq]. Our information is that they were detained in Iraqi territorial waters. But really I felt a sense that they [Iran] want to resolve the issue." Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, said last night: "This is a very unfortunate incident. We are afraid it's going to add to the tension that exists in the Gulf ..."
"Some of us who have relations with Iran are in contact with Iran but I wish I had good news that they will be released. We don't need any added inflammatory incidents in the Gulf and we feel for the families of those soldiers." The unexpectedly quiet voice in yesterday's international chorus of disapproval was America's. The White House has deliberately played down the stand-off at Britain's request. The US and British governments discussed whether it would be helpful to cancel military exercises in the region but the conclusion was to go ahead.
US officials said there was no prospect of a swap of six Iranians arrested in Iraq for the 15 British personnel and Britain had not asked for this. But the Americans could raise their profile as the crisis continues. The expectation in Washington is that the stand-off, unlike a similar one two years ago, could be protracted.
Nicholas Burns, under-secretary of state, testifying before the Senate's foreign affairs committee, said he hoped Iran would reach the right decision. He told the committee that the US approach to Iran in recent months, a combination of diplomacy and economic squeeze, was helping to unnerve the Iranian government. He said the two US carrier battle groups on exercises in the Gulf were "not to provoke Iran but to reassure our friends in the region".
Joe Biden, the Democratic chairman of the committee, said an otherwise minor incident could quickly spiral into military confrontation. "If there is anything worse than a poorly planned intentional war, it is an unplanned, unintentional war."
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