Last Updated: Monday, 21 June, 2004, 22:28 GMT 23:28 UK
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Iran seizes UK vessels and crew
British military patrols have been working with Iraqi coast guards
Iran has seized three UK navy vessels and eight crew members inside its territorial waters near the Iraq border, UK defence officials confirmed.
UK diplomats are now in close contact with Iranian officials both in London and Tehran over the incident on the Shatt al-Arab river.
The UK ministry of defence said the detained sailors were part of a Royal Navy training team heading to Basra.
Iran said the vessels had entered its waters without permission.
Film of the detained crew has been broadcast on Iranian television.
The UK defence ministry said in a statement: "We can confirm that eight Royal Navy personnel from the Royal Navy training team based in southern Iraq have been detained by the Iranian authorities while delivering a boat from Umm Qasr to Basra.
"The team were travelling in three boats - two Boston Whalers and one British Army Combat Support Boat - along the Shatt al-Arab waterway this morning. The boats are unarmed but the crews were carrying their personal weapons."
The BBC's Jim Muir in Tehran says the British embassy there has not been told where the sailors are being held or who is holding them.
Iran has said that after being intercepted and escorted to the Iranian shore, the men are being questioned to establish what they were doing in Iranian waters, our correspondent adds.
the rest in here....http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3826179.stm
Respect nothing, lies all the times for their own interest, this is what the "Coalition of the chicken" does all the time.