Five British sailors being held in Iran
December 1, 2009
A crew of five British sailors has been detained in Iran after their yacht may have inadvertently entered Iranian waters. The crew were sailing The Kingdom Of Bahrain from Bahrain to Dubai when they were stopped by the Iranian Navy. Dave Bloomer, Oliver Young, Sam Usher, Luke Porter and Oli Smith were all on their way to take part in the Dubai-Muscat Offshore Sailing Race when they ran into the Iranian vessels.
Allegedly the Foreign Office has been trying to negotiate with the Iranian authorities to secure the sailors quick release but may have encountered some problems because it is the festival of Eid and government offices often close down for up to ten days because of the festival.
U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said that he hopes the situation will be resolved quickly and that the problem has already been addressed by the U.K.’s ambassador in Tehran. He went on to say that the government was also in contact with the Iranian Embassy in London.
In 2007 Iran detained fifteen service personnel from Britain after Iran alleged that the frigate they were on had strayed into Iranian water. The British government claimed that the allegation was false and that the vessel had been taken whilst in Iraqi waters. The crew of the HMS Cornwall was held in Iran for thirteen days whilst negotiations were undertaken. It is unlikely that this latest incident will do anything to improve relations between the U.K. and Iran. The families of the crew have been informed.
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