USA: Iranian Foreign Minister insists British sailors were picked in Iranian waters

Iran is considering charging 15 British sailors with illegally entering its waters, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Sunday. Mottaki told reporters in New York that he would likely speak to British Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett about the issue later on Sunday. Iran captured 15 British Navy personnel at the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which marks the southern stretch of Iraq's border with Iran, in the Gulf on Friday (March 23). "The Iranian authorities intercepted these sailors and marines in Iranian waters and detained them in Iranian waters," Mottaki told reporters at a press conference in New York. But Britain has said two boatloads of Royal Navy sailors and marines had searched a merchant vessel on a U.N.-approved mission in Iraqi waters when Iranian gunboats encircled and captured them. Mottaki also said that Iran will continue uranium enrichment and said he was unhappy that a resolution sanctioning Iran had been adopted by the Security Council. The U.N. Council unanimously approved financial and arms sanctions against Tehran on Saturday for its refusal to suspend a nuclear program, but major powers also offered new talks and renewed an economic and technological incentive package offer. The sanctions would stay in place until Iran halts the enrichment of uranium and the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, which can be used to make a bomb or to generate power. Iran has 60 days to comply or face possible new sanctions. ""As I explained yesterday, there were two options to solve this issue. The first option was based on negotiation, a diplomatic solution based on co-operation. And the second option is confrontation. Islamic Republic of Iran always prefer the first option for the solution and without any precondition, Iran was always ready to join a multilateral negotiation to raise all the matters, consider, and find a comprehensive solution to this issue," Mottaki told members of the press. Mottaki addressed the U.N. Security Council on Saturday after the 15-member body imposed new financial and arms sanctions against Tehran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment. Mottaki also warned of "consequences" in its planned response in the coming days to new U.N. Security Council sanctions, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Sunday. "The choice of the resolution that was taken we view as regretful and it's the wrong choice. And of course it will have it's consequences. Regarding that we will make our decisions," said Mottaki. He said Tehran would examine the resolution "thoroughly and carefully" and respond "in the coming days." Major powers have previously said negotiations on Iran's nuclear program could not begin until Tehran halts uranium enrichment. Resolution 1747 goes beyond the nuclear sphere by banning Iranian exports of conventional arms and freezing financial assets abroad of 28 individuals and entities, including state-owned Bank Sepah and the commanders of the Revolutionary Guards. Some of those affected are said to be involved in supporting militant movements abroad. The new measures are a follow-up to a resolution adopted on Dec. 23 banning trade in sensitive nuclear materials and ballistic missiles, as well as also freezing assets of individuals and institutions associated with atomic programs. At the press conference in New York, the Iranian foreign minister did say that he was open to more negotiations and did not rule out the possibility of talks with the U.S. regarding the nuclear issue. "We will take under consideration any official request by the United States for bilateral talks," said Mottaki. The foreign ministers of countries that drafted the sanctions resolution -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany -- proposed further talks with Iran "to see if a mutually acceptable way can be found to open negotiations," according to a joint statement read by British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry.

ITN Source | March 26, 2007

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