A week after 15 British sailors arrested by Iranian authorities, United States rules out deal to exchange five Iranian officials captured in Iraq for the British hostages. Iran news agency reports that hostages to stand trial
A week after 15 British sailors were arrested by Iranian authorities on the Iran-Iraq
border, the United States has ruled out a deal to exchange five Iranian officials captured in Iraq for the British hostages.
The five Iranians, apparently members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, were seized
in Irbil, Iraq, in January. The US claims that the captives funded terror activity and armed insurgents in Iraq, in attempt to destabilize the nation.
Captive Sailors
British serviceman apologizes on TV for entering Iranian waters / Associated Press
Nighton Thomas Summers appears on Iran's official Arabic-language TV, says he is aware incident in which he was seized was second time since 2004 that British military personnel had entered Iranian waters
US State department spokesman Sean McCormack said that reports the US would consider a swap were erroneous.
"The international community is not going to stand for the Iranian government trying to use this issue to distract the rest of the world from the situation in which Iran finds itself vis-a-vis its nuclear program,” McCormack said.
The US statement comes a day after the European Union failed to back Britain up on a threat to freeze trade exports to Iran to press Tehran to release the sailors, according to the UK Times.
Sailors may face trial
Meanwhile, Iran's ambassador to Moscow was quoted as telling a Russian television station that the 15 British sailors and marines may face trial and legal moves have already been launched.
"It is possible that the British soldiers who entered into Iranian waters will go on trial for taking this illegal action," Ambassador Gholamreza Ansari told Russian television channel Vesti-24, according to Iran's IRNA news agency.
"The legal phase concerning these British soldiers has started and if charges against them are proven, they will be punished," said Ansari. IRNA said he made the comments on Friday evening. It gave no further details.
Iran has close diplomatic and commercial ties with Russia.
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards detained the British navy personnel on March 23 in the Gulf. The seizure triggered a diplomatic crisis at a time of international tension over Iran's nuclear ambitions and sent oil prices to six-month highs.
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