Iranian naval vessels seized 15 British sailors and marines Friday in Iraqi waters, the Ministry of Defense said.The United States said no U.S. personnel were seized.
The British personnel from the frigate HMS Cornwall were "engaged in routine boarding operations of merchant shipping in Iraqi territorial waters," and had completed their inspection of a merchant ship when they were accosted by Iranian vessels, the ministry said in a statement. "We are urgently pursuing this matter with the Iranian authorities at the highest level and ... The Iranian ambassador has been summoned to the Foreign Office," the ministry said.
"The British government is demanding the immediate and safe return of our people and equipment." A fisherman who said he was with a group of Iraqis from Basra in the northern area of the Gulf said he witnessed the event. The fisherman declined to be identified because of security concerns.
"Two boats, each with a crew of six to eight multinational forces, were searching Iraqi and Iranian boats Friday morning in Ras al-Beesha area in the northern entrance of the Arab Gulf, but big Iranian boats came and took the two boats with their crews to the Iranian waters," said the fisherman.
More from Hot Air on recent hostile acts by Iran.
Also at Blue Crab Boulevard.
UPDATE: Iran training Iraqi death squads?
An Iranian opposition group says Iran's al-Quds force is heavily involved in training Iraqi death squads and militias. The latest reports from the Mujaheedin-e-Khalq, or the MeK, accuse the Iranian regime of secretly engaging in "the organization and training of large Iraqi terrorist networks in Iran and sending them back to Iraq."Time to hit back hard. Maybe when the hairy munchkin is visiting the UN this weekend, someone can grab him.
The group opposed to the ruling clergy in Tehran says Iran's ultimate goal is to destabilize Iraq, forcing U.S. troops to leave the country, thus paving the way for the establishment of an Islamic republic in Iraq.
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