Iranian TV says Tehran will prosecute British crewmen for entering territorial waters

TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian state TV showed eight British sailors blindfolded and seated on the ground Tuesday, as Tehran said it would prosecute them for illegally entering Iran's territorial waters.

The British government said the men were on a "routine mission" in the Shatt-al-Arab waterway that separates Iran and Iraq along their southern border. The Foreign Office summoned Iranian Ambassador Morteza Sarmadi to demand an explanation for the naval officers' arrest.

Later, however, an Iranian military spokesman suggested Tehran might be softening its stance.

"Any comments on the fate of the detained sailors is dependent on the completion of the interrogation process and determining their motives in entering Iran's territorial waters," said Gen. Ali Reza Afshar.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi to ask for the sailors' release.

The eight were detained Monday as they were delivering a patrol boat for the new Iraqi Riverine Patrol Service.

Iran's Arabic language Al-Alam television showed the sailors blindfolded and sitting cross-legged on the ground. Earlier footage showed them sitting silently on chairs and a sofa. Three were in British military uniform; five others wore military trousers and civilian T-shirts.

"They will be prosecuted for illegally entering Iranian territorial waters," Al-Alam television said.

"The vessels were 1,000 meters inside Iranian territorial waters. The crew have also confessed to having entered Iranian waters," the broadcast said. The distance is about a half-mile.

Monday's incident follows a strain in Iranian-British relations after London helped draft a resolution rebuking Iran for past nuclear cover-ups at last week's meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors.

The Foreign Office said it had asked for immediate details about where the men were being detained and had requested immediate access to them.

The waterway, Iraq's main link with the Persian Gulf, divides Iran and Iraq and has long been a source of tension between the neighbors. The 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war broke out after then-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein claimed the entire waterway.

Iranian and British diplomats were at odds last week over the nuclear agency's resolution taking Iran to task for cover-ups involving its atomic program.