Iran says the British sailors and marines were captured in Iran's waters. The British claim they were in...

Question

Iraq's waters, With the Global Positioning and spy satellites of the United States, how likely is it that we have proof of where they were and whether this proof supports either claim, is it within the policy of the U.S.A. to release this information?

Answer 1

Considering it was a British ship I think that responsibility falls on the British governments shoulders. However that info would be classified because it would give the world a glimpse of there locations would give insight to their patrol routes. Further more, the area they were in, there has been a dispute over for quite a while now.

Stop putting everything on the US government without researching the accusation.

Answer 2

The "forces" that took the Brits into custody were not actually forces that are controlled by the government to Iran. The are a militia. But you have to understand the culture of the region. If Iran doesn't support their claim, they will loose the militia's support.

The are they were captured in has been disputed for years and was deemed "Iraqi" waters in a treaty signed about 20 years ago. The new government of Iran says it disputes the validity of that treaty.

The technology exists most certainly. And even on RIB's, the inflatables what were being used, they use GPS to verify location. The claim of actually being in Iranian territorial waters actually came about four hours after the Brits were taken into custody.

Using satellite imagery would also show other things and positions of assets that we may not want everyone in the region to know.

Peace comes with a price.... in one form or another. I think in this case diplomacy is that price at this time.

Answer 3

I dunno; it wasn't released to help the prosecution in the OJ Simpson trial.

I was told that there was sattelite footage of the movements of the infamous 'white Bronco' that would have easily resolved that case, but the US government wouldn't release the footage.

Besides, the sattelite footage may not resolve anything in this matter. The British/US side may claim that certain waters 'belong' to Iraq, while Iran may claim those same waters 'belong' to them. Often, a country will first popularize a claim like that by detaining sailors from other nations in the space they perceive as their own. There is no easy, technological answer for this type of disagreement.

It is time for diplomacy to negotiate the release of the sailors, not attempts to support various arguments.

Answer 4

Iran doesn't care where the British sailors were, they are using this as a way to influence what the British government and its people do in dealing with Iran.

Its a conspiracy all right, by Iran.

Answer 5

The Brits know better than to go into Iranian waters.

The only possibility that they were in Iranian waters is that they let the boat glide into Iranian waters after the Brits had already boarded it, which is not uncommon.

Answer 6

Iran is making the claim - let them prove it. I'd be willing to bet that turning the ships GPS unit over to the UN won't happen though.

Answer 7

Why capture them anyhow? Why not fire a warning shot?

The British Government does claim that the GPS locator's proves that they were not in Iranian water.

Answer 8

Iran is really trying the Brits.... Good thing they don´t have a short fuse.

Can you imagine what would´ve happen it would´ve been american sailors???

We´d probably be at war right now

Answer 9

Of course Iran claims the 15 British sailors wers captured in Iran's "half" of the waterway. Conversely, Britain claims that they were captured in Iraq's "half" of the waterway. Yah probably the spy satellites will have accurate GPS data but it probably will not be released for decades. Such data remains classified for a very, very long time.

Iran is dealing with two issues. First, Iran has captured 15 British sailors. Second, Iran has refused to cooperate with the U.N. regarding cessation of uranium enrichment.

Military confrontation may be on the horizon.
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=3961
In addition to the British naval vessels at the Diego Garcia atoll in the Indian ocean, there is a multi-national force in the Persian Gulf. The British HMS Cornwall aircraft carrier strike group, the American aircraft carrier strike group Bremerton-based aircraft carrier CVN-74 USS John C. Stennis, the American aircraft carrier strike group USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the French nuclear carrier Charles de Gaulle and its task force are all in close appoximation in the Persian Gulf. The CVN-68 USS Nimitz may also be in the Persian Gulf as it was scheduled for its WESTPAC07 deployment to replace the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/navy/batgru-68.htm

More details about military options can be found here:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iran-strikes.htm

Iran has elicited "confessions" from the 15 British sailors they captured and may put them on trial for espionage. The penalty for espionage in Iran is death.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article1563877.ece
“If it is proven that they deliberately entered Iranian territory, they will be charged with espionage. If that is proven, they can expect a very serious penalty since according to Iranian law, espionage is one of the most serious offences.” Espionage carries a death sentence.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6493391.stm
Iran's detention of 15 Royal Navy personnel is "unjustified and wrong", Prime Minister Tony Blair has said. UK officials are waiting to be granted access to the HMS Cornwall staff, who were seized on Friday, and have not been told where the group are held.

"It simply is not true that they went into Iranian territorial waters and I hope the Iranian government understands how fundamental an issue this is for us," Mr Blair said.

"We have certainly sent the message back to them very clearly indeed. They should not be under any doubt at all about how seriously we regard this act, which is unjustified and wrong."

On March 23, 2007, U.S. and British officials said a boarding party from the frigate HMS Cornwall was seized about during a routine inspection of a merchant ship inside Iraqi territorial waters near the disputed Shatt al-Arab waterway.

The seizure of two Royal Navy inflatable boats took place just outside the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, a 125-mile channel dividing Iraq from Iran. Its name means Arab Coastline in Arabic, and Iranians call it Arvandrud - Persian for Arvand River. A 1975 treaty recognized the middle of the waterway as the border.

Iranians send arms to Iraqi extremists, including sophisticated roadside bombs. This week, two commanders of an Iraqi Shiite militia told The Associated Press in Baghdad that hundreds of Iraqi Shiites had crossed into Iran for training by the elite Quds force, a branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guard thought to have trained Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

Regarding enrichment of uranium, Iranian President Mahmaoud Ahmadinejad abruptly cancelled his appearance before the U.N. security council and in his stead, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki Iran spoke. He indicated that Iran was willing to continue negotiations but without the precondition that uranium enrichment must be halted.

Mottaki said, "the world has two options to proceed on the nuclear issue: continued negotiations or confrontation. Choosing the path of confrontation ... will have its own consequences. "
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070325/D8O3E7J00.html

The U.N. security council unanimously voted to expand sanctions on March 24, 2007.

The new resolution 1747 calls on Iran to comply fully with all previous UN resolutions and join negotiations to reach agreement so as to restore international confidence in the peaceful nature of its nuclear program. Full transparency and cooperation with the IAEA are required. Suspension of Iran’s banned nuclear activities will elicit the parallel suspension of sanctions. The package of incentives offered Tehran last year for its cooperation remains on the table.

The full text of the draft of resolution 1747 appears at this website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6455853.stm
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Answer 10

I don't know.
But if we do have info we should let it be used as evidence!

Problem is if it's US intelligence info any good Iranian attorney would argue that it was fraudulent!