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UK: 15 'ambushed' in Iraqi waters

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Satellite tracking data shows that a group of 15 British military personnel captured by Iran last Friday never strayed outside Iraqi waters, according to Britain's Ministry of Defence.

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett also announced Wednesday that Britain would freeze all bilateral business with Iran until the 15 personnel were released.

"We are now in a new phase of diplomatic activity," Beckett told members of parliament.

Earlier, British Vice Admiral Charles Style said the global positioning system proves the boat carrying the Britons was "clearly" 3.1 kilometers (1.7 nautical miles) inside Iraqi waters and that they were "ambushed" by the Iranian forces.

Britain says Iran's detention of the eight Royal Navy sailors and seven Royal Marines, who were conducting a routine inspection of a merchant vessel at the northern end of the Persian Gulf, is illegal and is demanding their release.

Iran insists they were inside its territorial waters and, according to Style, provided a map with coordinates proving the Britons were out of bounds on Saturday.

However, those points provided were still within Iraqi territorial waters, Style said.

Upon pointing that out Sunday through diplomatic contacts "they provided a second set of coordinates" on Monday that were "in Iranian waters over two nautical miles" from the global position shown by the HMS Cornwall and confirmed by the merchant vessel the British personnel boarded.

The "change of coordinates," Style said, was "hard to legitimate."

Iran responded Wedesday by saying the sailors, which served aboard HMS Cornwall, were 0.5 km (0.27 nautical miles) inside Iranian waters when seized, Iran's embassy in London said, according to the official IRNA news agency.

The statement also "assures that the governments of Iran and Britain have the ability to solve the incident through contacts and close cooperation," IRNA said, according to Reuters.

The Iranians have condemned the move as an act of "aggression" and threatened prosecution. Tehran has also refused Britain's requests to visit the detainees.

The UK government is demanding the group's immediate release, with Prime Minister Tony Blair condemning the "completely unacceptable, wrong and illegal" detention of the 15 service personnel.

He said it was time to "ratchet up" the diplomatic and international pressure on Iran to release the group.

Blair told parliament on Wednesday: "Our thoughts are with our servicemen and the servicewoman and their families and their safe return is our paramount concern.

"Those personnel were patrolling in Iraqi waters under a United Nations mandate. Their boarding and checking of the Indian merchant vessel was routine.

"There was no justification whatever for their detention. It was completely unacceptable, wrong and illegal.

"It is now time to ratchet up the diplomatic and international pressure in order to make sure the Iranian government understands their total isolation on this issue."

Blair also defended the Navy personnel's "entirely sensible" decision not to fight back against their captors. To have done so would have led to "severe loss of life," the prime minister said.

Calling the shots

CNN's European Political Editor Robin Oakley said: "Blair talked about things moving into a different phase. We are going to see the start of that different phase today.

"Britain is hoping to use other countries that have good relations with Iran -- like Turkey -- to persuade them that they really should release the sailors.

"But one of the problems is no one is quite sure who is calling the shots in the Iranian administration at the moment, and precisely whose hands these sailors are in -- is it the Revolutionary Guard or the Navy? Is it now government officials? -- And who is making decision about how the case is handled at this stage.

"The British authorities remember the incident back in 2004 when eight British marines were held in similar circumstances. According to the marines themselves, there was psychological torture, there were people pointing guns at them, and they were paraded blindfolded on television, and so on.

"The British authorities are seeking very firm assurances the sailors are being well treated. Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett is saying if they are being treated as well as the Iranians say they are, then what's the problem allowing access to them by British officials?

"But the background circumstances have changed since 2004. The U.N. Security Council has intensified sanctions against Iran over its uranium enrichment program, we have the U.S. conducting major exercises in the Persian Gulf, and also since 2004 we have a change in regime in Iran -- a rather more unpredictable regime led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- so people can't be absolutely sure things will play out as they did in 2004."

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said Iran may allow Turkish diplomats to see the sailors and marines, according to CNN Turk. Erdogan is attending a meeting of the Arab League in the Saudi capital.

An Iranian official said Tuesday Britain would be allowed to make contact with the group once a preliminary investigation was completed. (Full story)

'That's the choice I made'

In an interview with the Independent newspaper, hours before she was captured, the one woman in the group, Faye Turney, spoke of her love for her three-year-old daughter Molly and her devotion to her job.

And she had told the BBC about her career: "My parents made sure that I was under no illusion that I could and can go to war at any time. That's the choice I made, so it's always there.

"You've got to have it in the back of your head that you can be called on -- and when you do you've just got to deal with it and get on with it."

The growing diplomatic row between Iran and the UK has seen regular contact between the two countries. The British Government has summoned the Iranian ambassador in London to the Foreign Office three times over the past five days to repeat demands for the captives to be released.

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