Top of the news in Tehran
Posted: Friday, March 30, 2007 2:03 PM
Filed Under:
Tehran, Iran
By Ali Arouzi, NBC News Producer
It’s been a week since the 15 British sailors and marines were seized by Iran and not much has been resolved. The British still insist that their personnel were in Iraqi waters when they were detained, and the Iranians are still arguing to the contrary.
The British have released GPS data that they say shows they did not violate Iranian waters, but Tehran has video footage and charts it says shows that the British sailors were in Iranian waters when they were seized.
Despite the diplomatic back and forth, it has only been over the last couple of days that there has been any kind of noticeable reaction to the incident in the Iranian media and on the streets of Tehran. Iran been in the midst of a holiday period – celebrating the Persian New Year – so a lot of people have been out of town, and most of the newspapers have not been printing over the holidays.
It was only earlier this week that I asked my barber, Reza Amini, what he though about the arrest of the sailors and he answered, "Fifteen British sailors have been arrest in Iran? Oh my God, does this mean trouble?"
Now everybody is talking about it.
Top of news now
The first few days after the detention, Iranian newscasts made it their third or fourth report, with minor ministry officials making statements. Now it’s the main story on the news here and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, senior ministers and powerful politicians have all made statements defending Iran’s position.
Ahmadinejad told state TV, "Britain should apologize for entering Iranian waters illegally." He also went on to say that Britain has made a media fuss out of the issue instead of dealing with it diplomatically.
Ali Larijani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) told state television, "We had decided to release the lady in the group, but with the political ballyhoo by London, this decision will for the time being be suspended."
Larijani expressed Iran’s displeasure with Britain for taking the issue to the U.N. Security Council, bypassing bilateral talks.
"We are not in the Stone Age … we can easily use Global Positioning Systems to clarify together whether the soldiers were on the Iranian or Iraq side (of the Arvand river)," said Larijani. He added that the British stance would not help to settle the issue, and warned that if it did not change, "then Iran would adopt another course, as well."
Mixed reaction on Tehran’s streets
As the diplomatic rhetoric escalated, the mood on the streets of Tehran is mixed.
Mona Mashaya, a university student, said "If the soldiers were in Iraq waters they should be released, but I’m sure they were not. I’m sure they were spying. The British are always meddling in Iran’s affairs; they have done a lot more harm to Iran than America ever has."
Some have expressed fear that the heightened rhetoric on both sides could create a larger crisis. "The British probably did violate Iranian water," said Jila, a retired teacher. "But this dispute has all the hallmarks of escalating into something much more serious and I just hope it is resolved quickly and peacefully."
Still others are insisting that the British are likely responsible for a violation of state sovereignty and should be held accountable. "If the British sailors are found to have entered Iranian waters illegally, then they should be tried according to international law, as anyone else would be who illegally enters another country’s borders," said Elham Safi, a manager one of Tehran’s hospitals.
In 2004, when a similar incident took place, the seized British servicemen were released within three days. But the government in Tehran at the time was very different and harbored less animosity toward the West.
