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 its personnel, who are based on HMS Cornwall.
It added that the men had been 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.
"The British government is demanding the immediate and safe return of our people and equipment."
It is understood the men being held are safe and well.
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has summoned the Iranian ambassador in London to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in an attempt to get the men released as quickly as possible.
In a statement, leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Menzies Campbell, also called for their immediate release.
"Whatever the rights and wrongs of military action, British forces in Iraq are now there with the authority of a UN security council resolution... and the Iranian government should be left in no doubt of the serious implications of their action," he said.
The incident comes as British Army Colonel Justin Masherevski, who is based in Iraq, says most of the violence against UK forces in Basra is being engineered by Iranian elements.
Col Masherevski said Iran was providing "sophisticated weaponry" to insurgents and "Iranian agents" were paying local men to attack British troops.
In 2004, Iran detained eight British servicemen for three days after they allegedly strayed over the maritime border.
The UK claimed the men were "forcibly escorted" into Iranian territorial waters.
While they were being held, the men were paraded blindfold and made to apologise on Iranian TV before their release was agreed.
The BBC's diplomatic correspondent James Robbins said the difference this time, and a cause of concern, is that the present Iranian government under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was much more hardline.
"The political climate is worse with Britain among those confronting Iran over its controversial nuclear programme," he added.
Perhaps it was a blunder on Irans part or maybe a counter to the Iranian nationals taken by America last week (what is good for the goose is good for the gander). Either way war is never the answer.
you dont reply because you cant dispute what i said, everything i said is true and you cant stand it, you brainwashed yourself into thinking that your so strong and superior, i bring you back down to earth to let you know that you cant boss us muslims around and get away with it safe and sound.
but anyway using your criteria, muslims are justified if they bomb your country, because you say bomb iran for unjustly arresting britians, well you and your allies have arrested many innocent muslims and many are held in cuba by you thugs, hence if muslims bomb your country dont complain since it will be justified according to you thanks.
The first paragraph again isn't worth putting in the effort in. It's just a childish response. It doesn't mean I "can't dispute what" you said. It basically means I'm not going to lower myself to who's more superior, who had a better morale, who has better this and that because basically what you've said has come out of your backside
The last paragraph however is more like it.
There is a difference between Iran and Britain. Iran is building nuclear weapons but at the same time they have threatened "to wipe Israel off the map" which we should prevent from happening. Britain threatens nobody to be wiped off the map. Then the Iranians are funding and handing weapons to Iraqis to attack British troops, which in itself is a declaration of war. Then the kidnapping of Iranians in Iraqi territory and then the taunts..
lets say for instance they werent in iranian waters, who cares? how many innocent muslims in iraq have been held in by uk troops? how many innocent muslims in uk have been arrested and held in prison for weeks? why dont these british ppl stop being hypocrites, they arrest hundreds of innocent muslims and they dont say a word, they act like its okay, but now when 15 of their men are arrested they go all mad, once again showing the british arrogance which will lead them nowhere.
Sorry did I read your comment correctly Sami? "Muslims are justified if they bomb your country". I am Muslim and this is my country. The original comment about bombing Iran was clearly made to provoke, so will you now be provoked and show the world that Muslims want to bomb everyone (as the west believes). Surely this issue is political, not religious?
The first paragraph again isn't worth putting in the effort in. It's just a childish response. It doesn't mean I "can't dispute what" you said. It basically means I'm not going to lower myself to who's more superior, who had a better morale, who has better this and that because basically what you've said has come out of your backside
The last paragraph however is more like it.
There is a difference between Iran and Britain. Iran is building nuclear weapons but at the same time they have threatened "to wipe Israel off the map" which we should prevent from happening. Britain threatens nobody to be wiped off the map. Then the Iranians are funding and handing weapons to Iraqis to attack British troops, which in itself is a declaration of war.
lol you make me laugh, talk about being thick as you say, you say iran are BUILDING NUCLEAR bombs, last i checked england have nuclear bombs!
britian threatens to not wipe ppl off the map, yeah, they just invade them and bomb the heck out of that country all based on a lie, such as iraq, where is saddams wmd which you went to iraq for? so your goverment are liars, invaders, and innocent hundreds of innocent muslims, therefore a country like you is no better with such weapons lol you act like your country is so innocent and a great example to rest of the world NOT!
and iran said they would wipe israel off the map? as usual just like your goverment you lie, i suggest you go learn farsi but since your an arrogant british man i dont expect you to understand farsi which is the iranian language, instead of relying on a mis-translation i suggest you go read the actual statement and learn farsi but its ok your always following lies i dont expect much more from you. gosh no wonder your country is so messed up i mean lol just look at you and your responses sums england up very well.
Sorry did I read your comment correctly Sami? "Muslims are justified if they bomb your country". I am Muslim and this is my country. The original comment about bombing Iran was clearly made to provoke, so will you now be provoked and show the world that Muslims want to bomb everyone (as the west believes). Surely this issue is political, not religious?
i said USING HIS CRITERIA, if we use his criteria then yes muslims are justified in bombing england since england holds many innocent muslims hence muslims would be justified in bombing england, as he said britian should bomb iran for illegally holding britians so he cant complain if muslims bomb UK for illegally holding muslims, im using his criteria this isnt my criteria, it is his.
lets say for instance they werent in iranian waters, who cares? how many innocent muslims in iraq have been held in by uk troops? how many innocent muslims in uk have been arrested and held in prison for weeks? why dont these british ppl stop being hypocrites, they arrest hundreds of innocent muslims and they dont say a word, they act like its okay, but now when 15 of their men are arrested they go all mad, once again showing the british arrogance which will lead them nowhere.
Britain is in constant terror alert. Mistakes will be made. Do you know how much terrorist activity is being monitored today? It's a certain group of people amongst your religion that is putting our people at risk, in danger so we are on high alert and must stop such activity from taking place. Iran however isn't on terror alert. In fact they are funding terrorist organisations to attack the British, they are threatening other countries, they are giving their ammunition to the enemies of the British.
Britain is in constant terror alert. Mistakes will be made. Do you know how much terrorist activity is being monitored today? It's a certain group of people amongst your religion that is putting our people at risk, in danger so we are on high alert and must stop such activity from taking place. Iran however isn't on terror alert. In fact they are funding terrorist organisations to attack the British, they are threatening other countries, they are giving their ammunition to the enemies of the British.
*yawn* thanks for showing your arrogance, you seem to think you only arrest innocent muslims in your country, but i said in iraq too but oyu ignored that. your country has NO RIGHT to be in iraq and they want u out of their country, so why are you arresting many innocent iraqi muslims in their own country when you have no right to be there in the first place. so your arrests on muslims isnt limited to inside england only, its taking place in a muslim country in which you have no right to be in.
lol you make me laugh, talk about being thick as you say, you say iran are BUILDING NUCLEAR bombs, last i checked england have nuclear bombs!
britian threatens to not wipe ppl off the map, yeah, they just invade them and bomb the heck out of that country all based on a lie, such as iraq, where is saddams wmd which you went to iraq for? so your goverment are liars, invaders, and innocent hundreds of innocent muslims, therefore a country like you is no better with such weapons lol you act like your country is so innocent and a great example to rest of the world NOT!
and iran said they would wipe israel off the map? as usual just like your goverment you lie, i suggest you go learn farsi but since your an arrogant british man i dont expect you to understand farsi which is the iranian language, instead of relying on a mis-translation i suggest you go read the actual statement and learn farsi but its ok your always following lies i dont expect much more from you. gosh no wonder your country is so messed up i mean lol just look at you and your responses sums england up very well.
It's allllllllllll down to translation... always the case lol Same with Nick Griffin. His speeches have been misinterpreted by the media. He's not racist
Oh and about Britain with nuclear weapons... we haven't threatened other nations, we haven't used them, we aren't loony like the Iranians are. You're whining about the "hundreds of muslims" that have been killed? That death rate is nothing in comparison to the death rate of 2 million during saddam Husseins regime... http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/hussein.html
You should be thankful
Sami. Yes you used his criteria but having read your earlier comments your criteria doesnt sound too far from his. Of course we cannot accept the 'confessions' of the captured british, in the same way we cannot accept the 'confessions' of the tortured (admitted by America) Muslims held in Guantanamo. Anyone will confess anything if tortured or afraid of being tortured. However, I go back to my point that this is a political issue and not a religious one, that is why Islam has such a bad reputation in the west because some people cannot seperate the two issues. We all have to admit that terrorism does exist and some people use our religion to further their cause.
England. I think some of your comments are ill informed and offensive but I would like to thank you for your understanding that it is just a certain group of people amongstout religion causing these problems.
who brought nick griffin up? typical you run around the bush, again go learn farsi and read what he did actually say instead of running around in circles bringing up BNP when i didnt bring them up, say bnp arent racists, lol like i care, i say insurgents who attack uk troops in iraq and afghanistan arent terrorists neither.
"England don't threaten to use their nuclear weapons on other countries". I would certainly hide under the bed if Iran obtained nuclear weapons but we cannot be hypocrites, all countries should destroy these weapons or allow all countries to have them. Who are we to say who should and who should not have them?
Sami. Yes you used his criteria but having read your earlier comments your criteria doesnt sound too far from his. Of course we cannot accept the 'confessions' of the captured british, in the same way we cannot accept the 'confessions' of the tortured (admitted by America) Muslims held in Guantanamo. Anyone will confess anything if tortured or afraid of being tortured. However, I go back to my point that this is a political issue and not a religious one, that is why Islam has such a bad reputation in the west because some people cannot seperate the two issues. We all have to admit that terrorism does exist and some people use our religion to further their cause.
England. I think some of your comments are ill informed and offensive but I would like to thank you for your understanding that it is just a certain group of people amongstout religion causing these problems.
go learn Islam abit instead of bringing ignorant statements up, if any muslim is killed or has his land stolen by a non-muslim it becomes the duty of every single muslim to help the muslim, even if he isnt killed for a religous reason even if he killed for a political reason it changes nothing at all but it is still a duty for every muslim to help the other fellow muslim.
secondly, the prophet even said jihad can be made if a mans land is stolen, so evem if they dont attack you for religion and simply steal your land you can make a jihad against them. you seem to think muslims are held by borders, wrong, muslim are one community, a kaffir hurting a muslim in indonesia makes it incumbent upon a muslim in alaska to help his fellow muslims, we are not bound by borders or any of that.
so again if any muslim is killed by a kaffir on such a wide scale like now and the past 20 years by non muslims it does become a religou matter even if the enemies who are killing us isnt religously motivated, so plz dont make these ignorant comments which have no basis in Islam.
"England don't threaten to use their nuclear weapons on other countries". I would certainly hide under the bed if Iran obtained nuclear weapons but we cannot be hypocrites, all countries should destroy these weapons or allow all countries to have them. Who are we to say who should and who should not have them?
If every other nation scrapped their nuclear weapons I too would be in favour of scrapping them here. That though is very unlikely therefore nuclear deterrents are needed to warn off those with nuclear capabilities. Iran though should not be trusted with nuclear weapons especially after carrying out those threats. The Iranian government have lost a screw. A member of that same government came out and claimed that Adolph Hitler was a Jew, the thread can be found somewhere in these forums. That just shows you how mentally unstable they actually are.
Oh Sami, lets not go around being offensive to anyone. If you feel you must correct someone, do so in a better fashion instead of putting them down.
Oh England, I do believe many of your arguments are invalid too. And once again, no need to blame Sami for decision that the Iranian government has made, and that goes for you too Sami.
It seems you loose all sight of politeness once discussions start about your country. If you have to be nationalistic, then do so in a manner others will listen to you if you talk.
i said dont make ignorant statements, how is that offensive? go learn what being offensive means instead of making an ignorant statement like that. thank you very much.
i said dont make ignorant statements, how is that offensive? go learn what being offensive means instead of making an ignorant statement like that. thank you very much.
I think somebody has been affected by this debate... Go to bed and sleep it off
Sami. I understand that Muslims are to protect each other, see my earlier comment that I am Muslim and British so I think I understand that Muslims are international not just middle eastern better than you do. An example of what I was trying to say is that if a man steals from a bank and he is Muslim should we all go to protect him? No, he has committed a crime. So if someone is arrested for terrorist offences (as long as he is not tortured and given opportunity to defend himself) then this is a political/legal issue not a religious one. Or do you feel that he should not be arrested simply because he is Muslim? The British people taken were either in the wrong waters (disputed between Iran and Iraq for centuries) or were taken as a political tool. How is this a religious issue?
If you call me ignorant again I shall simply not discuss with you.
England. There are a number of european historians that believe the grandfather of Hitler was a jew and this fuelled his hatred of the jews.
You are right about that. Any military action against Iran will be focused on damage, period. Don't buy into Iran's bark. Iran and Iraq fought each other to a standstill, and look how well Iraq faired in the two Gulf Wars. Unless you are referring to terrorist cells, which is a concern obviously. Neither the U.S. nor the U.K. is too concerned about Iran's military capability, the concern is the effect on the region and its politics. Nobody in the West wants a war with Iran, but it seems Iran is going to push those buttons until they get what they wished for.
Hey it's US and UK wanting the war. They are full of lies and deciet WMD's in Iraq are proof of this. They doctored the reports and whatnot. Then took out Saddam because he didn't play ball with the US.
And yes terrorist cells will be the next best thing, that is why I'm saying don't provoke them. Unless you want america to be like Isreal is, bombs going off in marketplaces and cities randomly. Be dimplomatic. DO NOT BULLY YOUR WAY INTO A SITUATION TO INFLICT YOUR WAY UPON OTHERS. This is why i'm stongly against all this US ''might'' - You'll regret it. Iraq is ruined, and Afghanistan, well they've been there how long? And they can't defeat a few mountain insurgents LMAO.Yup how great is your military eh, my how great they are.....
*S n i g g e r s*
Last edited by AvarAllahNoor; 03-25-2007 at 11:06 PM.
Ėk Gusā Alhu Mėrā
The One Lord, the Lord of the World, is my God Allah.
Dhan Guru Arjan Dev Mahraaj Ji!
Kal Meh Bėḏ Atharbaṇ Hū Nā Kẖuḏā Alhu Bẖa.
In the Dark Age of Kali Yuga, the Atharva Veda became prominent; Allah became the Name of God.
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Deploy troops in Iran...! (OP)
thanks.
Same with Nick Griffin. His speeches have been misinterpreted by the media. He's not racist 
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