Iran seizes 15 UK sailors

Mar. 23 - Iran triggered a new diplomatic crisis after its forces captured 15 British naval servicemen patrolling in Iraqi waters.

The British servicemen had just conducted a routine search of a merchant ship in the Shatt Al-Arab waterway, the maritime border dividing Iran and Iraq.

The British Foreign Ministry said that several Iranian vessels surrounded the two small Royal Navy boats, and forced them into Iranian waters.

News of the men's detention had an immediate impact on oil prices.

The servicemens' capture recalls a similar incident in 2004 in which eight British sailors were seized after apparently straying into Iranian waters, and held for three days before being released unharmed.

Helen Long reports.