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Iran dismisses EU stance on sailors detention
1/4/2007 10:06

Iran yesterday angrily dismissed the "biased and interventionist" stance of the European Union (EU) towards the seizure incident of 15 British sailors, warning the EU not to make "irresponsible comments" anymore, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"While ruling out the biased and meddlesome stances of European Union on the arrest of 15 British marines for illegal entry into Iran's territorial waters, we asks European states to avoid any uncalculated and irresponsible comments on the issue," Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The statement cited "documented and authoritative proof and evidence on violation of Iran's territorial waters by British marines", required EU and European officials consider such evidences before supporting London illogically.

The detention issue fully concerns Iran and Britain, the EU should not release "baseless" statements and make unwise interference, the statement said, meanwhile encouraging EU to persuade the British government to make mutually agreed decisions to tackle the ongoing problem.

The EU on Friday issued a statement in Berlin, calling on the Iranian government to release the detained British sailors immediately.

Last Friday, 15 British naval personnel were seized by Iranian forces when they were patrolling off the Iraqi borders.

Iran has insisted that the British boats illegally entered its territorial waters. But Britain said its soldiers were in Iraqi territorial waters.

Britain has received full support from other Western countries. The UN Security Council in a statement on Thursday also called for early release of the 15 British sailors detained by Iran.



 Xinhua news