Fifteen British Navy personnel have been captured at gunpoint by Iranian forces, the Ministry of Defence says.

The men were seized at 1030 local time when they boarded a boat in the Gulf, off the coast of Iraq, which they suspected was smuggling cars.

The Royal Navy said it was doing everything it could to secure the release of the sailors and marines who are based on HMS Cornwall.

They were said to be carrying out a routine patrol in Iraqi waters.

The Ministry of Defence said: "The group boarding party had completed a successful inspection of a merchant ship when they and their two boats were surrounded and escorted by Iranian vessels into Iranian territorial waters.

"We are urgently pursuing this matter with the Iranian authorities at the highest level."

It is understood the men being held are safe and well.

Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has summoned the Iranian ambassador to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in an attempt to get the sailors and marines released as quickly as possible.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6484279.stm

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The Iranians never learn do they. Don't they remember last time they took British hostages? Unless they want the SAS crashing through their windows again, I'd suggest they stop being so silly.

This doesn't make a lot of sense. Ahmedisoemthing is suppose to address the UN this weekend. And the security council is suppose to vote on sanctions against Iran's nuclear program. What is holding a few British soldiers going to do but piss the entire western world off?

Maybe there's some leverage here I'm not seeing..

they were saying the other day they wanted to kidnap some soldiers. i think it has something to do with them accusing the US of kidnapping that general, even though i'm pretty sure he deserted.

this is from 5 days ago

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From The Sunday Times
March 18, 2007
Iran to hit back at US ‘kidnaps’
Uzi Mahnaimi, Tel Aviv

IRAN is threatening to retaliate in Europe for what it claims is a daring undercover operation by western intelligence services to kidnap senior officers in its Revolutionary Guard.

According to Iranian sources, several officers have been abducted in the past three months and the United States has drawn up a list of other targets to be seized with the aim of destabilising Tehran’s military command.

In an article in Subhi Sadek, the Revolutionary Guard’s weekly paper, Reza Faker, a writer believed to have close links to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, warned that Iran would strike back.

“We’ve got the ability to capture a nice bunch of blue-eyed blond-haired officers and feed them to our fighting cocks,” he said. “Iran has enough people who can reach the heart of Europe and kidnap Americans and Israelis.”

The first sign of a possible campaign against high-ranking Iranian officers emerged earlier this month with the discovery that Ali Reza Asgari, former commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force in Lebanon and deputy defence minister, had vanished, apparently during a trip to Istanbul.

Asgari’s disappearance shocked the Iranian regime as he is believed to possess some of its most closely guarded secrets. The Quds Force is responsible for operations outside Iran.

Last week it was revealed that Colonel Amir Muhammed Shirazi, another high-ranking Revolutionary Guard officer, had disappeared, probably in Iraq.

A third Iranian general is also understood to be missing — the head of the Revolutionary Guard in the Persian Gulf. Sources named him as Brigadier General Muhammed Soltani, but his identity could not be confirmed.

“This is no longer a coincidence, but rather an orchestrated operation to shake the higher echelons of the Revolutionary Guard,” said an Israeli source.

Other members of the Quds Force are said to have been seized in Irbil, in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq, by US special forces.

“The capture of Quds members in Irbil was essential for our understanding of Iranian activity in Iraq,” said an American official with knowledge of the operation.

One theory circulating in Israel is that a US taskforce known as the Iran Syria Policy and Operations Group (ISOG) is coordinating the campaign to take Revolutionary Guard commanders.

The Iranians have also accused the United States of being behind an attack on Revolutionary Guards in Iran last month in which at least 17 were killed.

Military analysts believe that Iranian threats of retaliation are credible. Tehran is notorious for settling scores. When the Israelis killed Abbas Mussawi, Hezbollah’s general secretary, in 1992 the Quds Force blew up the Israeli embassy in Argentina in revenge.

Despite the Iranian threat to retaliate in Europe, Iraq is seen by some analysts as a more likely place in which to attempt abductions.

“In Iraq, the Quds Force can easily get hold of American — and British — officers,” said a Jordanian intelligence source.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 530527.ece

SAS time methinks...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Embassy_Siege

Why isn't this getting more attention?

I'm going to put a lot of people off by saying this, and believe me, in no way do I have any degree of respect or positive opinion of Mr. Ahmadinejhad who's an anti-Semitic blowhard, but I can't help think this humiliation is barely an ounce of payback for Britain's imperial past in Iran. I hope the situation is resolved peacefully, I hope Iran just shuts up and turns them over, but from another angle I can totally understand why your average working-class Iranian on the street would justify this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax

Parading them in front of the cameras and making them bleat apologies is a pretty scummy thing to do, methinks.

More likely it's payback for US and UK operations in the past few months that have resulted in the arrest and detention of several Iranian nationals in Iraq.

Yeah, but the sentiment has always been there, the Islamic Revolution would have never happened had we not meddled in their business

Nah, its not like people in India hate the brits because of their colonial past.

Because they're Hindus, not Muslims. They're actually a little more tolerant of others' behavior.

You're not making a lot of sense here.

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Times like these we miss our dear Margaret

it is getting a lot of attention... outside of the USA.

yup. i was talking to my brother today and its been on the news all week, here i barely hear about it. then again, it's only the UK ya know. :/

it is getting a lot of attention in the US. its one of the top news stories everyday.