New footage of British sailors

Tehran: More television footage of the British sailors captured nine days ago has been shown on Iranian state television.

The fresh video, which has been described as unacceptable by the UK foreign office, shows Royal Marine Captain Chris Air and Lieutenant Felix Carman standing in front of a chart of the Arabian Gulf.

Lt Carman said he understood why the Iranians were angry, while Capt Ayre told the camera that the maps he was stood in front of ‘apparently' showed the group of 15 sailors and marines were inside Iranian waters when they were captured.

Capt Ayre is also said they were taken at around 6am and that they had been treated very well by people in Iran.

The 15 sailors and marines from the HMS Cornwall were arrested on March 23 after searching a merchant vessel as part of a patrol.

Iran says that the sailors were illegally in Iranian territorial waters, while the British government says Global Positioning Satellite data proved that they were 1.7km inside Iraqi waters.
The UK Foreign Office condemned the fresh TV footage shown on Al Alam television, saying: "It's completely unacceptable for these pictures to be shown on television, given the potential to cause distress to their families."