Blair: Next Two Days Critical in Iran Standoff over British Sailors
British Prime Minister Tony Blair says the next two days will be critical in efforts to secure the release of 15 British sailors captured by Iran. Mr. Blair told a Scottish radio station Tuesday the most important thing is to get the people back safely. He also said the "door is open" if Iran wants to resolve the issue in a diplomatic way.
Iran's national security chief, Ail Larijani, said Monday he believed diplomacy could quickly resolve the issue.
A spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office responded by saying London shares Tehran's preference for early bilateral discussions to resolve the case.
Earlier, Iranian media said all the British sailors and marines had confessed to illegally entering Iranian waters.
Britain says its personnel were in Iraqi waters when they were seized March 23rd.
英國(guó)首相布萊爾說(shuō)，要爭(zhēng)取被伊朗扣押的15名海軍人員獲釋，今后兩天非常關(guān)鍵。布萊爾星期二在接受一家蘇格蘭廣播電臺(tái)采訪時(shí)說(shuō)，最重要的是讓這些人安全返回。他還說(shuō)，如果伊朗希望通過(guò)外交方式解決問(wèn)題，“門是敞開(kāi)的”。
伊朗國(guó)家安全事務(wù)負(fù)責(zé)人拉里賈尼星期一表示， 他認(rèn)為有可能通過(guò)外交途徑迅速解決問(wèn)題。
英國(guó)外交部發(fā)言人回應(yīng)說(shuō)，倫敦同德黑蘭一樣，愿意盡快舉行雙邊磋商，解決問(wèn)題。
伊朗媒體早些時(shí)候報(bào)導(dǎo)說(shuō)，這些英國(guó)海軍人員和海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)員都已承認(rèn)非法進(jìn)入伊朗水域。
英國(guó)表示，這些海軍人員3月23號(hào)被抓走時(shí)位于伊拉克水域內(nèi)。
British Prime Minister Tony Blair says the next two days will be critical in efforts to secure the release of 15 British sailors captured by Iran. Mr. Blair told a Scottish radio station Tuesday the most important thing is to get the people back safely. He also said the "door is open" if Iran wants to resolve the issue in a diplomatic way.
Iran's national security chief, Ail Larijani, said Monday he believed diplomacy could quickly resolve the issue.
A spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office responded by saying London shares Tehran's preference for early bilateral discussions to resolve the case.
Earlier, Iranian media said all the British sailors and marines had confessed to illegally entering Iranian waters.
Britain says its personnel were in Iraqi waters when they were seized March 23rd.
英國(guó)首相布萊爾說(shuō)，要爭(zhēng)取被伊朗扣押的15名海軍人員獲釋，今后兩天非常關(guān)鍵。布萊爾星期二在接受一家蘇格蘭廣播電臺(tái)采訪時(shí)說(shuō)，最重要的是讓這些人安全返回。他還說(shuō)，如果伊朗希望通過(guò)外交方式解決問(wèn)題，“門是敞開(kāi)的”。
伊朗國(guó)家安全事務(wù)負(fù)責(zé)人拉里賈尼星期一表示， 他認(rèn)為有可能通過(guò)外交途徑迅速解決問(wèn)題。
英國(guó)外交部發(fā)言人回應(yīng)說(shuō)，倫敦同德黑蘭一樣，愿意盡快舉行雙邊磋商，解決問(wèn)題。
伊朗媒體早些時(shí)候報(bào)導(dǎo)說(shuō)，這些英國(guó)海軍人員和海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊(duì)員都已承認(rèn)非法進(jìn)入伊朗水域。
英國(guó)表示，這些海軍人員3月23號(hào)被抓走時(shí)位于伊拉克水域內(nèi)。