LONDON – Iran is holding five British sailors after stopping their racing yacht in the Persian Gulf, the British government said Monday.
The yacht, owned by Sail Bahrain, was stopped on its way from the tiny island country to the gulf city of Dubai on Wednesday when it "may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters," Britain's Foreign Office said.
The crew members "are still in Iran," a foreign office statement said, without specifuing where they are and what their legal status is. A call seeking clarification from Britain's Foreign Office was not returned immediately.
Iran detained 15 British military personnel in the gulf under disputed circumstances in March 2007. Iran charged them with trespassing in its waters, and the Iranian government televised apologies by some of the captured crew.
All were eventually freed without an apology from Britain, which steadfastly insisted the crew members were taken in Iraqi waters, where they were authorized to be.
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