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Australia Says Iran Attempted To Capture Sailors
The Australian military confirmed Friday that Iranian gunboats had tried unsuccessfully to capture Australian sailors long before a British crew was seized in March this year.
The confirmation of the December 2004 stand-off near the sea border between Iraq and Iran followed a BBC report that the Australians repelled the Iranians by training their guns on them and deploying "highly colourful language."
The incident was compared to the March capture of 15 British sailors in similar circumstances in the Gulf, which sparked a major diplomatic row between London and Tehran. They were released nearly two weeks later.
BBC reporter Frank Gardner told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the Australians had acted quickly and adopted a "pretty robust attitude" to see off the Iranians.
"The point of this story is not that the Aussies were fantastically brave and the Brits were a bunch of cowards, although I'm sure (that's how) some people will interpret it," Gardner told the AM programme.
"Lessons should have been drawn from what happened to the Australian crew.
"They reacted, I'm told, incredibly quickly, whereas the Brits were caught at their most vulnerable moment climbing down off the ship getting into their boats."
An Australian defence spokesman said the 2004 stand-off between navy personnel and five Iranian gunboats lasted four hours.
Commodore Steve Gilmore said the incident began when an Iranian Revolutionary Guard gunboat began making "very overt gestures" as it moved towards an Australian boarding party leaving a cargo vessel they had just searched.
Gilmore said the Australian group's commander ordered his crew, which had been in two inflatable boats launched from the HMAS Adelaide, to reboard the cargo ship and take defensive positions.
No shots were fired during the encounter, which escalated to include another four armed Iranian military boats, before the Australians were taken back to their ship by helicopter, he said.
"We were able to keep that as the case by the very deliberate, well-considered and well-executed negotiation process that the Australian boarding officer undertook," Gilmore said.
Gilmore, who at one point commanded the joint maritime task force in the Gulf, said the conditions in which the British sailors were detained were different from those the Australians experienced.
"It's very difficult to predict the (British) outcome should have been the same as the Australian outcome because it wasn't the same circumstances," he said.
He said he had not delved into the exact language used by the Australians.
"The important thing to note is that it worked."
Officials in London insisted that the British troops captured this year were carrying out routine anti-smuggling operations in Iraqi waters, but Iran claimed they had crossed the border.
Australian navy sailors used "colorful language" and aggressive tactics to repel five Iranian gunboats in an incident prior to the capture of 15 British sailors in March, Australian defense officials said on Friday.
Five Iranian Revolutionary Guard gunboats surrounded an Australian boarding party in the Gulf during a routine stop-and-search of the cargo boat MV Sham in December 2004.
"Colorful language was the word. As Australians we might well imagine what (language) was there, but the important thing to note was that it worked," Royal Australian Navy Commodore Steve Gilmore told reporters.
The Australians were boarding the vessel from the missile frigate HMAS Adelaide, on patrol with U.S.-led coalition forces after the Iraq war, when the incident occurred.
The Australian commander ordered his sailors back onto the cargo vessel and into defensive weapons positions in a four-hour confrontation from which the Iranians eventually backed away. No shots were fired, Gilmore said.
British media reports have questioned why lessons were not learned from the Australian incident.
Gilmore, who commanded Coalition naval forces in the Gulf after the clash, said it was impossible to say if the British sailors could have deterred their Iranian captors by taking a similar aggressive stance to the Australians.
"It's very difficult to predict the (British) outcome should have been the same as the Australian outcome because it wasn't the same circumstances," he said.
It was unclear if the Iranians, armed with rocket-propelled grenades, had even been attempting to capture the Australians.
"It was certainly quite overt and they were attempting to establish what the Australians were doing, there's no doubt about that," he said. Two Australian sailors were awarded medals after the encounter.
The British sailors captured in March were accused of straying into Iranian waters and paraded on television before eventually being released amid diplomatic protests.
Australia, a close U.S. ally and original member of the American-led coalition, currently has around 1,500 troops in and around Iraq.
The confirmation of the December 2004 stand-off near the sea border between Iraq and Iran followed a BBC report that the Australians repelled the Iranians by training their guns on them and deploying "highly colourful language."
The incident was compared to the March capture of 15 British sailors in similar circumstances in the Gulf, which sparked a major diplomatic row between London and Tehran. They were released nearly two weeks later.
BBC reporter Frank Gardner told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the Australians had acted quickly and adopted a "pretty robust attitude" to see off the Iranians.
"The point of this story is not that the Aussies were fantastically brave and the Brits were a bunch of cowards, although I'm sure (that's how) some people will interpret it," Gardner told the AM programme.
"Lessons should have been drawn from what happened to the Australian crew.
"They reacted, I'm told, incredibly quickly, whereas the Brits were caught at their most vulnerable moment climbing down off the ship getting into their boats."
An Australian defence spokesman said the 2004 stand-off between navy personnel and five Iranian gunboats lasted four hours.
Commodore Steve Gilmore said the incident began when an Iranian Revolutionary Guard gunboat began making "very overt gestures" as it moved towards an Australian boarding party leaving a cargo vessel they had just searched.
Gilmore said the Australian group's commander ordered his crew, which had been in two inflatable boats launched from the HMAS Adelaide, to reboard the cargo ship and take defensive positions.
No shots were fired during the encounter, which escalated to include another four armed Iranian military boats, before the Australians were taken back to their ship by helicopter, he said.
"We were able to keep that as the case by the very deliberate, well-considered and well-executed negotiation process that the Australian boarding officer undertook," Gilmore said.
Gilmore, who at one point commanded the joint maritime task force in the Gulf, said the conditions in which the British sailors were detained were different from those the Australians experienced.
"It's very difficult to predict the (British) outcome should have been the same as the Australian outcome because it wasn't the same circumstances," he said.
He said he had not delved into the exact language used by the Australians.
"The important thing to note is that it worked."
Officials in London insisted that the British troops captured this year were carrying out routine anti-smuggling operations in Iraqi waters, but Iran claimed they had crossed the border.
Australian navy sailors used "colorful language" and aggressive tactics to repel five Iranian gunboats in an incident prior to the capture of 15 British sailors in March, Australian defense officials said on Friday.
Five Iranian Revolutionary Guard gunboats surrounded an Australian boarding party in the Gulf during a routine stop-and-search of the cargo boat MV Sham in December 2004.
"Colorful language was the word. As Australians we might well imagine what (language) was there, but the important thing to note was that it worked," Royal Australian Navy Commodore Steve Gilmore told reporters.
The Australians were boarding the vessel from the missile frigate HMAS Adelaide, on patrol with U.S.-led coalition forces after the Iraq war, when the incident occurred.
The Australian commander ordered his sailors back onto the cargo vessel and into defensive weapons positions in a four-hour confrontation from which the Iranians eventually backed away. No shots were fired, Gilmore said.
British media reports have questioned why lessons were not learned from the Australian incident.
Gilmore, who commanded Coalition naval forces in the Gulf after the clash, said it was impossible to say if the British sailors could have deterred their Iranian captors by taking a similar aggressive stance to the Australians.
"It's very difficult to predict the (British) outcome should have been the same as the Australian outcome because it wasn't the same circumstances," he said.
It was unclear if the Iranians, armed with rocket-propelled grenades, had even been attempting to capture the Australians.
"It was certainly quite overt and they were attempting to establish what the Australians were doing, there's no doubt about that," he said. Two Australian sailors were awarded medals after the encounter.
The British sailors captured in March were accused of straying into Iranian waters and paraded on television before eventually being released amid diplomatic protests.
Australia, a close U.S. ally and original member of the American-led coalition, currently has around 1,500 troops in and around Iraq.
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