Q&A: the Seized British Sailors

What has happened?

Iranian naval vessels seized 15 British Royal Navy sailors and marines on the morning of Friday March 23. They were taken in an area near the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which forms part of the border between Iran and Iraq.

Iran says it did so because the crew were in their waters. The UK rejects this, saying the personnel - who were held after carrying out a routine inspection of an Indian-flagged civilian ship - were in Iraqi waters.

Last week, the Ministry of Defence released evidence it said proves the personnel were 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi territorial waters.

The captives comprise 14 men and one woman, Faye Turney, 26. She was the first of the personnel shown on video on Iranian television, seemingly confessing to having crossed into Iranian waters. Iranian officials released three letters from her saying similar things.

Other crew were shown on subsequent videos talking about being in Iranian waters.

What has been the reaction?

Tony Blair and the Foreign Office have been particularly angry about the videos, labelling them "unacceptable".

The more general reaction has been a mixture of tough talk - such as calls for the UN and EU to react - and sober, behind the scenes diplomatic negotiations.

There have been increasing hopes that a solution can be found, with Iran's first vice-president, Parviz Davoudi, saying on Tuesday that Tehran is hopeful the deadlock can end "soon".

Mr Blair responded to this and other conciliatory comments by saying the following two days "will be fairly critical". "If they want to resolve this in a diplomatic way, the door is open," he added.

Why did the British troops not resist arrest?

Military officials have said HMS Cornwall would not have had time to send support because it would only have taken the Iranians a few minutes to reach the British party from the Iranian coast, just over seven miles away.

The MoD said the British were "ambushed" by six heavily armed Iranian vessels equipped with heavy machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades. In contrast, the British, who were disembarking from the cargo vessel having completed their search, had only SA80 semi-automatic rifles and sidearms.

Mr Blair defended the British party's "entirely sensible" decision not to fight back against their captors, as to have done so would have led to "severe loss of life".

Did the incident take place in a diplomatically sensitive area?

Yes. Iraq and Iran have disputed navigation rights on the Shatt al-Arab since 1935, when an international commission gave Iraq control. There is also a general tension around Iraq and Iran's borders, with British officials having accused Iran of supplying Iraqi insurgents with weapons and training.

On Monday March 26, a London-based Arabic newspaper, Asharq al-Awsat, citing Iranian sources, said the two-boat British patrol had been seized in the hope of an exchange for Iranian captives.

It claimed the Iranians wanted a prisoner swap for senior officers of the al-Quds brigade of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard captured by US forces in Irbil, Iraq, earlier this year. The claim was denied by Iranian officials.

Has this happened before?

In June 2004, six British marines and two sailors were seized by Iran in the Shatt al-Arab waterway. After being initially threatened with prosecution, they were released after high-level contacts between the then foreign secretary, Jack Straw, and the then Iranian minister of foreign affairs, Kamal Kharrazi.

But some commentators believe it could be more difficult to secure the release of UK personnel this time because a more hardline government is now in power in Tehran following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's win in the June 2005 presidential election.

What state are UK-Iranian relations in?

Not as bad as relations between Washington and Tehran. Britain, at least, has had diplomatic relations with Iran, though it is still characterised as "little Satan" to the US's "big Satan". If the captured sailors had been American, the diplomatic fallout could have been very dangerous.

That said, the foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, announced that all other bilateral official business between Britain and Iran had been frozen until the issue was settled.

She did, though, reassure MPs that Iranian officials had told the Foreign Office they were not linking the crisis to other issues - a reference to the problems surrounding the UN's demands over Iran's nuclear programme.

The west and Iran are at loggerheads over Iran's determination to pursue uranium enrichment despite UN disapproval. The UN security council extended the sanctions against Iran.

There have also been tensions between Britain and Iran over allegations that Iran is helping insurgents in southern Iraq with advice and material for bombs targeting British troops around Basra.

What are British naval forces doing in the Gulf?

British ships are working with a US naval force that has recently expanded, with the arrival of a second aircraft carrier battle group. The ships are engaged in routine patrols, and the west has naval forces in the area as a matter of course to ensure the safe passage of oil tankers.

The US is committed to protecting Iraq's southern oil terminals against attack until the Iraqi navy can prove it is capable of ensuring the six miles of shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz stay open. Up to 80% of Europe's trade with Asia, and a substantial proportion of the world's oil and gas, are shipped through local waters.

US officials say they want to send a message to Iran that America has plenty of military muscle in reserve despite its commitments in Iraq.

A large western naval presence can be seen as part of a war of nerves as the US puts pressure on Iran to halt the nuclear work the Bush administration believes is for an atomic bomb.

Which British ships are in the Gulf?

Britain has recently boosted its naval presence, having sent HMS Cornwall, a type-22 frigate, two mine sweepers, HMS Ramsey and HMS Blythe, and a vessel from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary to the area.