Iran captures 15 British soldiers

Basra: Iranian forces seized 15 British Royal Navy personnel who had searched a merchant ship in the Gulf, sparking a diplomatic crisis.

The Ministry of Defence in London said the incident took place in Iraqi waters, where Britain routinely boards merchant vessels with UN permission to search them.

The Foreign Office summoned Iran?s ambassador and demanded the immediate, safe release of the men, who were captured on Friday morning.

A ministry statement said, "The boarding party had completed a successful inspection of a merchant ship when they and their two boats were surrounded and escorted by Iranian vessels into Iranian territorial waters."

The statement added, "We are urgently pursuing this matter with the Iranian authorities at the highest level and on the instructions of the Foreign Secretary, the Iranian ambassador has been summoned to the Foreign Office. The British government is demanding the immediate and safe return of our people and equipment."

An Iraqi fisherman in Basra told reporters he had seen the incident in the Shatt Al Arab waterway that marks the southern stretch of Iraq's border with Iran.

The fisherman said six or seven foreign military personnel were on two small boats that stopped to check Iranian ships in the Siban area of the waterway, near the Al Faw peninsula that leads into the northern Gulf.

When they boarded one ship, at least two Iranian vessels appeared on the scene and the military personnel were detained. There was no sign of any violent confrontation he said.

Oil prices rose above $62 a barrel after the incident.