Blair says 'parading' prisoners will add to disgust

BRITAIN:British prime minister Tony Blair has voiced rising anger and "disgust" at Iran's patent manipulation of members of the Royal Navy crew seized by Iranian revolutionary guards in the Gulf.

As the EU demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the 15 sailors and marines, Mr Blair warned the Iranian regime it faced "increasing isolation" in the international community.

Mr Blair was speaking as the sense of crisis built following Tehran's resumption of its own media offensive, with the release of a second televised "confession" by one of the captured sailors apologising for "trespassing" in Iranian waters. This followed the earlier release of footage of Nathan Thomas Summers, together with a third letter purportedly written by Faye Turney complaining that she had been "sacrificed" to the policies of the British and American governments. The letter released yesterday also demanded an end to "oppressive behaviour towards other people, including prisoners in Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq".

The latest television footage, which various commentators agreed was clearly edited, showed Mr Summers saying: "I would like to apologise for entering your waters without any permission." In other clips, seemingly spliced together, Mr Summers said the Royal Navy crew had "trespassed without permission" before describing their treatment by the Iranians as having been "very friendly".

In the footage shown on the Arabic language station Al Alam, Mr Summers is shown sitting alongside Ms Turney - the only woman in the captured crew - and another serviceman, identified as 22-year-old Adam Sperry.

Speaking during a visit to Manchester, Mr Blair said "parading" the members of the crew in this way would only increase people's sense of disgust. "I really do not know why the Iranian regime keep doing this," he said. "All it does is enhance people's sense of disgust. Captured personnel being paraded and manipulated in this way doesn't fool anyone. What the Iranians have to realise is that if they continue in this way, they will face increasing isolation."

At the same time Mr Blair again appeared to signal his readiness for a protracted diplomatic standoff, stressing that securing the release of the personnel was his over-riding objective.

"We've just got to pursue this with the necessary firmness and determination, but also patiently, because there is only one possible conclusion to this, and that is that our personnel are released safe and sound," he said.

Foreign secretary Margaret Beckett, meanwhile, said there was nothing in a formal letter from the Iranians to the UK suggesting they were looking for an early "way out" of what she described as "this difficult situation". To Britain's insistence that the crew were in Iraqi waters operating under a UN mandate, the Iranian letter again condemned the navy's "illegal act" and claimed similar acts had taken place in the past despite "prior warning".

The note also echoed an earlier reported warning by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that Britain would have to apologise.

His assertion that Britain had repeatedly violated international law and crossed the Iranian border came as the UN Security Council expressed "grave concern" at Iran's action, while stopping short of deploring it, as requested by the UK.

Mrs Beckett said she was "quite horrified" by the latest footage, which she denounced as "blatant propaganda". In the video Mr Summers said he had been in the navy for two years, "operating mechanical warfare". He also said: "Since we've been arrested in Iran our treatment has been very friendly. We have not been harmed at all. They've looked after us really well."

Mr Summer's brother Nick, also a serviceman, said he was glad to see the crew were being "well looked after" and expressed confidence that "they'll help each other" survive their ordeal.