EU threatens action if sailors not released

EU: EU foreign ministers have warned Iran to release immediately 15 British sailors it is holding hostage or face "appropriate…

EU:EU foreign ministers have warned Iran to release immediately 15 British sailors it is holding hostage or face "appropriate measures" in "the near future".

They "deplored" the continued arrest and called for "immediate and unconditional" release of the Royal Navy personnel, in a statement issued at a two-day informal ministerial meeting in Bremen yesterday.

"Great Britain can count on the unconditional solidarity of all Europeans," said German foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, calling the joint statement "a clear sign that Europeans stick together in difficult situations".

Mr Steinmeier said there was no sign that Iran was planning on ending the situation soon, echoing the remarks earlier in the day of his British colleague, Margaret Beckett. "There's nothing . . . which suggests that the Iranians are looking for a way out of this difficult situation," Ms Beckett told the BBC.

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"We have been looking for a way out of it for them, for us and particularly for our service personnel from the very beginning. I wish I saw any sign that this is what Iran is trying to do."

The foreign ministers asked EU chief diplomat Javier Solana to discuss the situation with Iranian leaders. Mr Solana said he would make clear to Iranian officials this was not a bilateral issue between Britain and Iran.

"We are talking about citizens of the EU and the sooner they are released the better for our relations with Iran," he said.

He declined to spell out the nature of the "appropriate measures" or how soon the EU would act, but said it was a matter of "days and hours". "This problem belongs to us," he said.

Irish officials said that, during discussions on the situation, Britain sought and got stronger language put into the statement than originally intended. However, British officials agreed it was too soon to propose concrete measures.

"There was a very strong discussion about the tactical consideration of either front-loading sanctions against the regime or giving Solana a place for discussions with his Iranian colleague," said Minister of State Conor Lenihan, who is responsible for overseas development assistance.

"There was agreement that ending ministerial contacts should be held in reserve.

"I told the meeting it is a despicable breach of basic human rights to use and abuse people as instruments of propaganda," he said of television footage of the hostages.