The Wardman Wire

Hidden at the end of an Al-Jazeera story is the statement:

“A 1975 treaty gave the waters to Iraq and US and British ships commonly operate there, but Aandahl said Iran disputes Iraq’s jurisdiction over the waters.”

This statement from the US Fifth Fleet’s Commander Kevin Aandahl quoted by Al-Jazeera gives some insight into the events.

The story gives more detail on the status of the area where the British sailors were intercepted:

Commander Kevin Aandahl said the British crew members were intercepted by several larger patrol boats operated by Iranian sailors belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy, a force that operates separately from the country’s regular navy.

The Iranian boats normally carry bow-mounted machine guns, while the British boarding party carried only sidearms, Aandahl said.

No shots were fired and there appeared to be no physical harm done to any personnel involved or their vessels, Aandahl said.

The seizure of the British vessels, a pair of rigid inflatable boats known as RIBs, took place in long-disputed waters just outside of the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab, Aandahl said.

A 1975 treaty gave the waters to Iraq and US and British ships commonly operate there, but Aandahl said Iran disputes Iraq’s jurisdiction over the waters.

This perhaps helps clear up some of the questions that have been raised. The sailors were in Iraqi Territorial Waters, but Iran is trying to roll back a Treaty signed between the Shah and Saddam Hussein - or is using that excuse to cause trouble.

Combined with Iran’s current attempts to pursue a nuclear programme in the face of international disapproval, we can understand why the Iranian government would take actions that it believes may help its position.

It will be very revealing to see whether Iran Treats these sailors according to international standards.

In a previous incident in 2004 British sailors were detained, threatened with charges of spying, paraded blindfolded on television and subjected to mock-executions. From the BBC:

Christopher Adams, who was seized with seven others, after allegedly straying into Iranian waters, said it was a “very scary” experience.

He said they were given food and water, but told of a terrifying mock execution they were subjected to in the desert.

“We were in our cell, then we were moved out on to transport, blindfolded, driven around,” he said.

“Then we got off, still blindfolded, told not to do anything or say anything. Told to put our hands on our heads then on the shoulders of the guy in front.

It was very scary - at the time we didn’t know what was going on, what was going to happen or even if we would be released
Christopher Adams

“We walked slowly into the desert and down into a ditch where we stood and waited to see what would happen.

“Thankfully they didn’t fire. We didn’t know what was going to happen. We thought there was a good chance we could have been shot then.”

Tags: Iran, Royal Navy, Al-Jazeera, Gulf War Iraq, News, International Incident, Smuggling