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Security Council Voices Concern Over Iran Captives
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The standoff would not end "by anything but the unconditional release of all our people," Blair said in an interview with British broadcaster ITV, explaining that his strategy was to make this point over and over to Iran.
Blair said he would not negotiate any "quid pro quo" for the hostages' release.
In Washington, where the Bush administration has been deferring to Britain, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the international community needs to play a role in pressuring Iran to release the 15 personnel. She also condemned Iran for broadcasting video of the captives.
"The Iranian government, if it wants to show that it really . . . belongs in the international community as a responsible state, it should release these sailors," she said on the Sean Hannity radio program.
Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday sent a message to the British Embassy in Tehran, calling for a guarantee by London to avoid violating Iranian territorial waters in the future, Iranian news agencies reported.
The Iranian news agency listed what it called five previous incidents, between June 2004 and February 2007, in which British military forces had illegally entered Iranian territory.
It said a British unmanned reconnaissance plane flew into Iranian airspace in June 2004; two British military helicopters entered Iranian airspace in November 2006 and another did so in January 2007; and three British Navy boats entered Iranian waters in February 2007. The fifth case was the 2004 capture of eight British sailors who were paraded on television and forced to apologize before being released.
Sullivan reported from London. Staff writer Colum Lynch at the United Nations contributed to this report.
