British Sailors seized by Iran.

[Ajax]

Originally Posted by Aggie08

I am pretty surprised Britian hasn't done anything other than write a first draft of a somewhat strongly worded letter. No one can accuse a country of using any and all means necessary to rescue any of it's own.

The foreign office is passing notes "discreetly" according to the media. As to wether or not they are "strongly worded" i don't know. Tony Blair has said that we are entering the most critical 24 hours of negotiation .

I sincerely hope that Tehran and Washington don't do anything stupid and start another war. Iran is enjoying it's moment in the spotlight and I believe that in five years they'll have crawled back into their huts and fallen from the public eye

Hopefully, but as long as they try & get nukes, they will always be in th public eye.

[bomber]

Originally Posted by DerAdlerIstGelandet

I certainly think you have no clue what is really going on the middle east and you certainly dont know what is happening militarily in the middle east either and that you have proven by argueing with people that have been there..

I've not argued with anyone here...

As a moderator can't you tell the difference between me stateing my opinions in a grown up manner and those that simply call names ?

Originally Posted by DerAdlerIstGelandet

It would cause a major war with many muslim nations but that is going to happen anyhow because of there hard line stance and there desire to destroy Isreal and the West.

So in your mind it's inevitable and we should simply get on with it... ?

And when it's finished what major power will simply 'clean up' the winner. ?

Simon

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Originally Posted by bomber

I've not argued with anyone here...

As a moderator can't you tell the difference between me stateing my opinions in a grown up manner and those that simply call names ?

So you have not claimed that no war is being fought. You have not claimed that it is not "rough" eneogh over there. Even though someone who has been there tells you otherwise...

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, everyone is and I will defend that myself. I am also not trying to offend you or anything and I dont really think I have called you any names.

However to call things occupational hazards when you have not seen armed units of combatives armed and equipped (with evidence the equipment came from Iran) that are recieving real military tactics and training thent that tells me your opinions are based off of false ideas and news.

The War on Terrorism is not just being fought in Iraq. It goes into Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, and much farther.

Originally Posted by bomber

So in your mind it's inevitable and we should simply get on with it... ?

And when it's finished what major power will simply 'clean up' the winner. ?

Simon

Never said that. If you actually go back and read the posts the (the serious ones that I have posted) I did say that the first step should allways be diplomacy but diplomacy only goes to far with these people. Countries like Iran have openly stated they wish for the destruction of the west and Isreal. They have allready set the stage for what they want and until the moderates in there country decide that they need to stand up against this evil stupid regime that is getting the uneducated masses behind them it will not end.

War is inevitable with Iran unfortunatly...

[mkloby]

Originally Posted by Aggie08

I sincerely hope that Tehran and Washington don't do anything stupid and start another war. Iran is enjoying it's moment in the spotlight and I believe that in five years they'll have crawled back into their huts and fallen from the public eye.

it's just a matter of time. persia is the most irresponsible nation out there. do you want them to go nuclear?

[Erich]

the Royal Persian D**k has decided after his lengthy speech of nonsense against the west and awarding Persian coast guard crews medals for capturing the British to let the British go. Guess the bozo can't think of anything else to keep the hostages under lock and key iliegaly

I again wonder just how many promises were made to that cretin and his perverse govt. ?

[twoeagles]

He's a total nut job, but he also knows the value of PR to the rest of the Muslim world...I wouldn't say crafty fox as that imples a level of intellectual ability I believe is lacking, but he sure knows how to grand stand.

From the point of view of 15 families back in England, it's simply a very good day.

[mkloby]

Originally Posted by twoeagles

From the point of view of 15 families back in England, it's simply a very good day.

This is true. His beatin' is still a-coming. I really feel it was another poke to test the waters. I think little xerxes feels that he can act with impunity and that the western pansy @ss nations won't take any military action against him. I fear this episode further reinforced that belief.

Israel - are you watching???

[Erich]

oh yeah they are watching. I know two chaps that are just waiting for the word ~ "GO"

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Originally Posted by Erich

the Royal Persian D**k has decided after his lengthy speech of nonsense against the west and awarding Persian coast guard crews medals for capturing the British to let the British go. Guess the bozo can't think of anything else to keep the hostages under lock and key iliegaly

I again wonder just how many promises were made to that cretin and his perverse govt. ?

Yeap he called it an early "Easter Present" Here is the story. Either way it is great to see they are going home.

Iranian leader says he'll free Britons By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran would free the 15 detained British sailors and marines Wednesday as an Easter holiday "gift" to the British people.

He said the captives, who were seized while on patrol in the northern Persian Gulf on March 23, would be taken to the airport following his news conference, but Iranian state television reported they would leave Iran on Thursday. An Iranian official in London said they would be handed over to British diplomats in Tehran.

After the news conference, state television showed Ahmadinejad meeting with the British crew, dressed in business suits, at the presidential palace. He shook hands and chatted with them through a translator, and a caption to the video said the meeting was taking place as part of the "process of release."

"We appreciate it. Your people have been really kind to us, and we appreciate it very much," one of the crew could be heard telling Ahmadinejad in English.

Another said: "We are grateful for your forgiveness."

Ahmadinejad responded in Farsi, "You are welcome."

Iranian TV said the British captives had watched Ahmadinejad's news conference live and were ecstatic when a translator told them what the president had said.

Their release would end a 13-day standoff between London and Tehran that was sparked when the crew was seized as it searched for smugglers off the Iraqi coast. Britain denied Iranian claims the crew had entered Iranian waters.

In London, the office of Prime Minister Tony Blair said it welcomed the news. President Bush, who had condemned the seizure of the Britons and referred to them as "hostages," also welcomed the news, said his national security spokesman, Gordon Johndroe.

In New York, British U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said "if this news is confirmed, then it's tremendous news and we're delighted."

Recent days saw talk of direct negotiations between Britain and Iran, and a decrease in tensions that had risen after Iran broadcast videos in which female British sailor Faye Turney and others "confessed" to violating Iranian territorial waters, and Britain expressed outrage.

Ahmadinejad said the British government had sent a letter to the Iranian Foreign Ministry pledging that entering Iranian waters "will not happen again." Britain issued no immediate confirmation of the letter.

"On the occasion of the birthday of the great prophet (Muhammad) ... and for the occasion of the passing of Christ, I say the Islamic Republic government and the Iranian people — with all powers and legal right to put the soldiers on trial — forgave those 15," he said, referring to the Muslim prophet's birthday on March 30 and the Easter holiday.

"This pardon is a gift to the British people," he said.

The surprise announcement came shortly after Ahmadinejad pinned a medal on the chest of the Iranian coast guard commander who intercepted the sailors and marines.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said Blair's office was "establishing exactly what this means in terms of the method and timing of their release."

An Iranian official in London said the crew members would be handed over to British diplomats in Tehran and that it would then be up to the Foreign Office to decide how they would return home.

"They will go through some brief formalities and then they will go to the embassy," said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations. "They can go on a British Airways flight to Heathrow, they can go through the UAE (United Arab Emirates), it is up to the British Embassy in Tehran in coordination with the Foreign Office here."

In London, a Foreign Office spokesman said wanted to "make sure we've actually got them in hand, and that they're safe and well," before making travel plans.

A group of British service members who were seized by Iran in 2004 were sent back to the British sector of southern Iraq aboard an Iranian commercial flight, after stops in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Ahmadinejad's announcement came after Iran's state media reported that an Iranian envoy would be allowed to meet five Iranians detained by U.S. forces in northern Iraq. Another Iranian diplomat, separately seized two months ago by uniformed gunmen in Iraq, was released and returned Tuesday to Tehran.

Ahmadinejad said Iran will never accept trespassing in its territorial waters.

"On behalf of the great Iranian people, I want to thank the Iranian coast guard who courageously defended and captured those who violated their territorial waters," he said.

"We are sorry that British troops remain in Iraq and their sailors are being arrested in Iran," Ahmadinejad said.

Ahmadinejad asked Blair not to "punish" the crew for confessing that they had been in Iranian waters when they were seized by Iranian coast guard. Iran broadcast video of some of the crew giving confessions, angering Britain.

He also criticized Britain for deploying Turney in the Gulf, pointing out that she is a woman with a child.

"How can you justify seeing a mother away from her home, her children? Why don't they respect family values in the West?" he asked of the British government.

Iran has denied it seized the Britons to force the release of Iranians held in Iraq, and Britain has steadfastly insisted it would not negotiate for the sailors' freedom.

Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency said earlier Wednesday that an Iranian envoy would be allowed to meet with the five detained Iranians in Iraq but gave no further details.

A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad said, however, that American authorities were still considering the request. The spokesman, Maj. Gen. William C. Caldwell, said an international Red Cross team, including one Iranian, had visited the prisoners but he did not say when.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told The Associated Press that the case of the five Iranians detained in Irbil, the capital of the Kurdish self-governing region in northern Iraq, had no connection with the British captives.

Zebari, a Kurd, said his government had been relaying Iranian requests for a meeting with the five detainees, but could not confirm the request had been approved.

In a commentary, the Iranian news agency said the movement on the Iranian prisoner issue was due in part to "the new American political and military appointments in Iraq."

The agency was referring to Gen. David Petraeus, who assumed command of U.S. forces in February, and Ryan Crocker, who began work as the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq last month.

U.S. troops detained the five Iranians on Jan. 11, accusing them of links to an Iranian Revolutionary Guard network that was supplying money and weapons to insurgents in Iraq.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said President Bush had approved the strategy of raiding Iranian targets in Iraq as part of efforts to confront the government in Tehran.

Iraqi Kurds, like the country's Shiites, maintain close ties with Shiite-dominated Iran, despite their warm relationship with the U.S. — and have been upset over the arrests in their own capital.

Iran denounced the raid and insisted that the five were diplomats who were engaged exclusively in consular work. The Iraqi government said they were arrested at an office that was supposed to become an Iranian consulate.

The British newspaper The Independent reported this week that the Irbil raid had escalated tensions between the U.S. and Iran and may have set the stage for the March 23 seizure of the British naval personnel.

Also Wednesday, a Kuwaiti newspaper quoted Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem as saying Damascus was also mediating the case of the 15 Britons.

[Erich]

now to see if any British news firm has the balls to really proclaim the truth as to what happened "yes they forced confessions with a gun pointed at our heads" attitude

[Matt308]

..and to read about the Great Victory that Iran pulled off agains The Great Satan and its puppets.

I too wonder what was promised to make the change of heart...

Or perhaps threatened.

[FalkeEins]

"...He also criticized Britain for deploying Turney in the Gulf, pointing out that she is a woman with a child. "How can you justify seeing a mother away from her home, her children? Why don't they respect family values in the West?" he asked of the British government....."


..well, he's got a point here...

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

And the islamic extremists have family values??

Lets see lets go blow up a a building full of mothers and fathers to punish the west.

Lets go and strap bombs to our children and parade them around.

Lets go and blow up ourselves and make our children fend for themselves while we go and get our 72 raisins!

Yeah that really sounds like family values to me!

[Matt308]

Yeah I suppose he does. Now to lobotomize her so she acts uneducated, cover her body from head to toe, force her to talk with no male on the planet and have the child's father beat her on occasion to remind her of her place in life. Paradise, I say.

[Gnomey]

Of course

Good to see they were released but the quick change of heart from trying them for spying to releasing them has to have been brought around by something.