Non-Subscriber Extract
Iranian forces capture UK Royal Navy personnel
By Denise Hammick
23 March 2007
Fifteen UK Royal Navy (RN) personnel have been detained at gunpoint inside Iraqi territorial waters by Iranian forces.
The four sailors and 11 marines attached to the Type 22 Batch 3 frigate HMS Cornwall, flagship of Combined Task Force 158, were engaged in routine boarding operations when the incident occurred, according to the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The boarding party had completed a successful inspection of an unflagged dhow when "Iranian gunboats came over and seized them", said MoD spokesperson Captain Mike Davis-Marks.