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Their racing yacht may have inadvertently strayed into Tehran's waters London Daily Mail Iran is prepared to take 'serious' measures against five British sailors
it is holding hostage if it can prove they had 'evil intentions', an
aide to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said.
The president's head of staff spoke as British diplomats scrambled to
free the five sailors and prevent a propaganda coup. The civilian crew were snatched after 'inadvertently' straying into
Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf as they sailed their yacht from
Bahrain to Dubai for the start of an international race.
Sam Usher, Olly Smith, Luke Porter and Oliver Young - four of the
Britons seized by Iran as they sailed in the Gulf Sam Usher, Olly Smith, Luke Porter and Oliver Young - four of the
Britons seized as they sailed in the Gulf 'Judiciary will decide about the five ... naturally our measures will be
hard and serious if we find out they had evil intentions,' Esfandiar
Rahim-Mashaie, the president's head of staff, told the semi-offcicial
Fars news agency. Foreign Secretary David Miliband said there was 'no confrontation or
argument' in negotiations with Iran. However, the Government is desperate to ensure the seizure of the men,
who were snatched from their racing yacht in the Gulf, does not become
an international crisis. Mr Miliband spoke as Iran’s Revolutionary Guards finally admitted their
naval forces had detained five Britons in the Gulf. They were captured last Wednesday by the crew of an Iranian naval vessel
in a troubling echo of the kidnap of 15 Royal Navy personnel in 2007.
Iran managed to turn that incident into a propaganda coup, benevolently
freeing the 15, parading them before news cameras and showering them
with gifts. Mr Miliband, speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, said the
incident was a consular matter and not linked to the previous incident. ‘These are five civilians. They are yachtsmen. They were going about
their sport,’ he said.
Kingdom of Bahrain Racing yacht: The Kingdom Of Bahrain (pictured) may have 'inadvertently
strayed' into Iranian territorial waters ‘We look forward to the Iranian government dealing with this promptly.’ Mr Miliband admitted that the crew of the Kingdom of Bahrain may have
'inadvertently strayed' into Iranian territorial waters as they sailed
from Bahrain to Dubai for the start of an international race. He said he was awaiting a statement from the Iranian government on the
matter but stressed there was no dispute. ‘There's certainly no confrontation or argument,’ he said. ‘As far as we
are aware, these people are being well-treated, which is right and what
we would expect from a country like Iran.’ He said ‘perfectly good discussions’ had taken place between officials
in London and Tehran.
Hostages: Oliver Young (right) and Luke Porter pictured together earlier
this year Hostages: Oliver Young (right) and Luke Porter pictured together earlier
this year The crew were named as Sam Usher, Olly Smith, Luke Porter and Oliver
Young - and David Bloomer, who works as a radio presenter in Bahrain. The Government has known about the incident, which was made public
yesterday, since last Wednesday – but details were kept private so that
negotiations could take place. It appears that the high-tech yacht was swept towards Iran by strong
winds after its propeller was damaged. Last night 21-year-old Mr Porter's mother Beverley said her husband
Charles had spoken to their son on his mobile phone. She said the sailors had strayed into Iranian waters by only 500 yards,
but were now being held somewhere off Iran. Dave Bloomer Held: Dave Bloomer, a DJ for Radio Bahrain, has been named as a captive Mrs Porter, who lives in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, said: 'They didn't
know that they had strayed over this imaginary line. 'Apparently they are fine and being well-looked after but are most of
all frustrated. They have been allowed from time to time to use their
mobile phones. 'They don't know when they're going to be released because of the
religious festival that is going on over there.' Her 48-year-old husband added: 'From what we understand, there was an
oil field on their charts - which is a restricted area - so they chose
to go one side of it. 'In doing so they strayed too close to a small island called Sirri. I
assume that is when they were picked up. They're miffed that they are
being cooped up and a race was going on.' Mr Porter added: 'Luke is a very resilient chap. I'm sure he'll deal
with things very well but obviously we are very worried about him.' He said the four sailors had done thousands of miles together over the
last three years. Mr Bloomer had been due to report on the sailors' progress in the
360-mile Dubai-Muscat race. The Kingdom of Bahrain is a Volvo 60 - the Formula One car of racing yachts. It is operated by Team Pindar, an international racing team owned by
British multi-millionaire Andrew Pindar, who received an OBE from Prince
Charles in June for his services to business. It is one of only 19 such
yachts in the world. Diplomats say they have been in 'indirect contact' with the hostages and
that they are confident they are being well treated.
Enlarge Iran yacht map Privately the officials are furious that the news broke. They had hoped
to keep the incident secret in order to avoid a new diplomatic incident
with Iran. The worst case scenario would see the sailors charged with espionage,
handing the regime in Tehran another international propaganda coup.
Iran's foreign ministry is expected to make a statement on the sailors
today. 'The Iranians know that they are not British naval personnel,' said one
diplomat. 'We've explained that to them very clearly. Whether they chose
to hear is another matter.'
Flashback: HMS Cornwall crew members, including Faye Turney, centre,
were paraded on Iranian TV during their 2007 hostage ordeal Flashback: HMS Cornwall crew members, including Faye Turney, centre,
were paraded on Iranian TV during their 2007 hostage ordeal. Foreign
Secretary David Miliband has said the two incidents are not linked The fear is that the hostages have been taken by the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard - the powerful hardline group behind Iran's nuclear
weapons programme - which held the Navy personnel two years ago. Senior government officials admitted negotiations with the Iranians were
proving difficult since the country has been celebrating the annual
Muslim festival of Eid. Ultimately their fate of the hostages is in the hands of the Supreme
Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamanei. Foreign Secretary David Miliband
said: 'I hope this issue will soon be resolved. We will remain in close
touch with the Iranian authorities, as well as the families.' The kidnap comes at a time of growing tensions with Iran over its
nuclear weapons programme. Earlier this year President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proclaimed that Britain
was a worse enemy of Iran than the United States. Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1232158/Five-British-yachtsme...
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