Iran vows to deal 'firmly with Britons if found guilty

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran said on Tuesday that five British sailors detained in southern Gulf waters by the elite Revolutionary Guards would be dealt with firmly if found guilty of what it called ill intentions.
The five men on board an 18-metre racing yacht were detained last week by the Revolutionary Guards, the forces navy chief told the Fars news agency.
It quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejads chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, as saying the judiciary would decide their fate.
If these peoples ill-intention is proven, they will be dealt with seriously and firmly, he said, adding that Tehran had in the past dealt firmly with people who entered Iran illegally. In response, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said theres certainly no question of any evil intent, insisting that the five were clearly innocent and saying he hoped for a speedy resolution.
He also said the incident has nothing to do with politics or the standoff over the Islamic republics nuclear programme, which the West suspects has military aims despite Tehrans denial.
This is a human story of five young yachtsmen, Miliband told reporters in London. Its a consular case, which is being treated as a consular case by the UK, and Im sure will be treated as a consular case by the Iranian authorities.
London also summoned Iranian envoy Rasoul Movahedian over the detention.
He was called for a meeting on the situation, a Foreign Office spokesman said, adding Britain had sought confirmation of where the five were being held and asked for consular access and a swift resolution.
Miliband said earlier on Tuesday that Britain has no argument with Iran over the sailors and stressed that they were being treated well.
Irelands ambassador in Tehran is to lobby the foreign ministry over one of the five, sports journalist David Bloomer who holds dual Irish-British nationality, a foreign ministry spokesman in Dublin said.
The seizure, which recalls the detention by Iran of 15 British navy personnel in the Gulf in 2007, comes amid already heightened tensions between Tehran and the West over Irans nuclear plans.
The five were sailing from Bahrain to Dubai for a race when their yacht, The Kingdom of Bahrain, was stopped last Wednesday in the Gulf, the Foreign Office said.
They are believed to have been intercepted near the Iranian-controlled island of Abu Musa, whose ownership is disputed by Iran and the United Arab Emirates, a Bahraini interior ministry source told AFP.
Miliband stressed that the latest incident was different from the one in 2007, which involved military personnel.
It is important to say that these are civilians, not Royal Naval personnel, he said. They are yachtsmen, they were going about their sport and it seems they may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters.
Revolutionary Guards navy chief Ali Reza Tangsiri told Fars that the five had been arrested by his forces.
The British intruders have been arrested by the Guards navy, he said, adding that movements in the Persian Gulf are under the supervision of Sepah (Guards).
The yacht may have been drifted into Iranian waters after breaking its propeller en route to the Dubai-Muscat Offshore Sailing Race, which started last Thursday, British media reports said.
In London the five were named as Oliver Smith, Oliver Young, Sam Usher, Luke Porter and Bloomer.
Irans Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi called for their release. I believe the Iranian government has arrested them without warnings. They must be released as soon as possible, she told reporters in Seoul.
Ebadi, a lawyer, said they might have entered Iranian territorial waters by mistake. In this case, maritime police should have escorted them out into international waters, she said through an interpreter.
Charles Porter said he had spoken to his 21-year-old son Luke on a mobile phone and that he appeared to be in good spirits.
From what we understand there was an oilfield on their charts-which is a restricted area-so they chose to go one side of it, Porter said, adding the yacht may have strayed too close to an Iranian island.
In the 2007 incident, eight sailors and seven marines were captured on March 23. Britain insisted they were in Iraqi territorial waters, while Tehran said they were in Iranian waters.
During the 13 days they were held, the 14 men and one woman were not mistreated but they were paraded on Iranian television, sparking anger from Britain and other Western governments.