Sailors' seizure 'very serious'

The seizure by Iran of 15 Royal Navy personnel is "very serious", Northern Ireland minister Peter Hain has said.

Mr Hain said their holding was of "tremendous concern" and that every negotiating option was being pursued.

The eight sailors and seven marines, from HMS Cornwall, were held on Friday after boarding a boat in the Gulf.

Tehran has accused the group of "blatant trespassing" into Iranian waters, but the Foreign Office is adamant they were in Iraqi waters.

British diplomats hope they will have another meeting with the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Sunday, to ask for their release or, failing that, at the very least consular access.

Foreign Office junior minister Lord Triesman met the Iranian ambassador Rasoul Movahedian on Saturday to demand their immediate release, and other diplomatic meetings have also been held.

Northern Ireland Secretary Mr Hain said: "It is a very serious situation, and of tremendous concern, and that's why we're pursuing every negotiating option to try and bring our soldiers back and make sure that they're safe.

"It's essential that this occurs and it's essential not just for the well-being of our soldiers but also for stability in the region."

HMS Cornwall's area of operations

Students belonging to the paramilitary Basij group, which is close to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have called for the Britons to be put on trial.

However, Professor Sadaq Ziba-Kalam, of Tehran University, told BBC News 24 he did not think they would be charged with spying.

"That part of the water between Iran and Iraq where the incident happened has been disputed for decades," he said.

"So it is very difficult to draw the line and say this is the Iranian side of the border and this is the Iraqi side of the border."

BBC News correspondent in Tehran, Frances Harrison, said: "All the signs are Iran hasn't yet decided what it's going to do with the British.

"But the crisis runs the risk of intensifying if more groups inside Iran insist this case should be linked to Iranians in detention in Iraq or with the nuclear issue."

The Cornwall is the flagship of the coalition-Iraqi force which patrols Iraqi territorial waters in the northern Gulf to combat smuggling.

The Britons, who include one woman, had inspected an Iraqi boat before returning to their two small boats where they were seized.

They were taken at gunpoint by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval forces.

They were then moved along the Shatt al-Arab waterway to Iranian bases, Royal Navy officials said.

Further sanctions

Iranian armed forces spokesman Gen Ali Reza Afshar told Iranian media on Saturday that the 15 personnel were being interrogated, but were in good health.

Germany - which holds the EU presidency - called for the immediate release of the Britons.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council has voted unanimously in favour of further sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend its nuclear enrichment programme.

The seizure of the boarding party carries echoes of an incident in June 2004 when a group of eight marines and sailors were held for three days after being seized by the Iranians in the Shatt al-Arab waterway.

On that occasion the hostages were paraded blindfolded on television, and later freed.