Britain’s tactics in its dispute with Iran took centre stage on Monday, as Tehran hailed what it said was the UK’s more “positive” approach and analysts suggested that some of London’s previous attempts to secure the release of 15 naval personnel had proved counterproductive.
While steering clear of the apology some Iranian politicians have demanded, Margaret Beckett, British foreign secretary, has expressed “regret” over the incident in which Iran captured the 15 British sailors and marines on March 23. In a reply to an Iranian letter sent late last week, Ms Beckett also suggested that Iran and the UK seek to prevent such disputes from recurring.
Iran says the British personnel entered Iranian waters, although the UK says they remained within Iraqi territory. The matter is complicated further because there is no agreed maritime border between Iran and Iraq.
“It seems that Britain has shifted a little bit from its stance,” Iranian television said as it screened the latest footage of the UK prisoners Monday.
“If this path continues, one can hope that the issue would be resolved in a bilateral process and far away from fuss and clamour and with achieving Iran’s logical demands.”
Iran’s student news agency ISNA said that, because of Britain’s alleged change of stance, Tehran would not broadcast “details” of the film of the detainees. Unlike earlier clips, which included the prisoners’ “confessions”, the latest videos were screened without sound. Iranian radio also praised Britain’s more “positive” approach.
British diplomats have sought to cool the temperature in the dispute after last week, which saw the UK make a public presentation of its case that the personnel were in Iraqi waters, as well as seeking help from the United Nations Security Council and from a European Union foreign ministers’ meeting.
“Of course it’s entirely sensible to look for ways for avoiding this kind of dispute in the future,” said the British Foreign Office. “The ball for resolving the current situation is in Iran’s court.”
As of Monday night, the UK was waiting for a response from Iran to Ms Beckett’s note, with the possibility that it could send a team of diplomats and naval staff to begin talks with Iran. One avenue being explored by the UK would be to set up a “parallel process” in which the two sides would simultaneously discuss the status of the detainees and a mechanism for dealing with potential future disputes over naval operations in the northern Gulf.
“I would not find fault with the British response. They have played it by the book,” said Mark Fitzpatrick, a fellow at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
But he said: “Iran did not respond positively when Britain went public. I think it more likely that Tehran will respond to pleas from other Islamic countries.”
By contrast, some UK officials believe Britain’s public presentation of its case last week partly led Iran to send the formal note that started the current diplomatic process.
“I think they have done pretty well. They didn’t go to the Security Council straight away,” said François Heisbourg, of the Foundation for Strategic Studies in Paris. “But they should have been more realistic about what they could get from the Security Council and not increased expectations.”
Some European diplomats argue that Britain’s principal mistake was to fail to spot the Revolutionary Guards who detained the sailors and marines before it was too late.
