Two Britons "confess" on Iranian TV

By Edmund Blair

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian television on Sunday showed pictures of two of the 15 British sailors and marines held in Iran, the men saying they were captured after entering Iranian waters.

Britain had earlier said it was in direct communication with Iran as it seeks the release of the 14 men and one woman detained on March 23 in the northern Gulf.

Iran's capture of the Britons has drawn international criticism, but Tehran has so far ignored calls to release them.

The row, at a time of heightened Middle East tensions over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme, pushed oil prices last week to six-month highs. The West accuses Iran of trying to build nuclear bombs, a charge Tehran denies.

State-run Al-Alam television showed footage of the two men in khaki uniforms standing separately in front of a large map of the Gulf, and pointing to it while speaking.

The map showed the positions of various vessels near the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which forms the southern border between Iran and Iraq. Written on the map in English was "the point where intruding boats were captured".

"At approximately about 10 o'clock in the morning we were seized, apparently at this point here from their maps and the GPS they showed us, which is inside Iranian territorial waters," Captain Chris Air said in the footage which was released to international broadcasters.

"So far we have been treated very well by all the people here. They have looked after us and made sure that ... (they) feed us enough food and we've been treated very well from them so we thank you for that."