Iran mocks Britain by parading captured naval boat thru Tehran streets
It seems that the boats and the equipment were never returned...
This boat carrying naval officers in all their finery was meant as a clear and humiliating message of defiance to Britain, the United States and all those who criticise Iran, as it was paraded through the streets of Tehran today.
Almost four years ago the vessel had been part of the Royal Navy's fast reaction combat patrol boats in the Shatt al Arab waterway that divides Iraq and Iran.
But today it was transformed into a powerful tool of propaganda.
Hundreds of thousands cheered as the boat trundled past them, raised on the platform of a giant flat-back lorry with messages extrolling the glories of Iran's Revolutionary Guard tied on its side.
There seemed little coincidence that the boat - one of three captured together with British servicemen by Iran in 2004 - had been specially chosen as one of the centre pieces of the vast parade to mark the 29th anniversary of the Islamic revolution.
For it comes at a time of mounting tensions between London and Washington and the hardline regime of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over Tehran's nuclear programme and its continued support of terrorist operations in its neighbour Iraq - operations that have led directly to the murder and maiming of British and US soldiers.
It came too a week after Iran sparked international concern by test-launching a rocket designed to carry its first domestically made research satellite into orbit.
"God willing, next summer the first 100 per cent Iranian-made satellite will be positioned in orbit," the president said.
The West fears Tehran is covertly trying to obtain nuclear bombs. Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, says it needs nuclear energy to meet booming electricity demand.
The technology used to put satellites into space could also be used for launching weapons, analysts say, and both the United States and Russia have expressed concern about the rocket test.
Ahmadinejad also said Iran would not back down in the nuclear dispute with the West, despite the threat of a third round of U.N. sanctions on the Islamic Republic over its refusal to halt sensitive atomic work.
"They should know that the Iranian nation will not retreat one iota from its nuclear rights," he told the crowd which had gathered in the capital.
"They ... cannot do anything except to play with papers and make propaganda," Ahmadinejad said, referring to world powers discussing a third U.N. sanctions resolution against Tehran over work the West fears has military aims.
Iranian officials had called on people to turn out in large numbers to show their unity in the face of Western pressure. State television broadcast footage of rallies held across Iran with one million said to be on the streets of Tehran alone.
U.S. officials have accused Iran of aiming to equip its missiles with nuclear warheads. Iran says its nuclear programme is designed only to generate electricity and preserve its oil and gas for export.
American flags and an effigy of George Bush were burned by the crowd as they promised support to Ahmadinejad and chanted "Death to America".
The British boat had been transported especially for the celebrations from a military base at Khorramshahr, near Iran's southern border with Iraq, where it has been on show at a museum.
It was one of three Royal Navy support combat vessels seized by Iran in 2004 together with six Royal Marines and two sailors after Tehran claimed they had strayed into their territorial waters - claims categorically denied by Britain.
To the outrage of the then-Blair government, the servicemen were paraded blindfolded on TV and two were made to read apologies.
The men were released but despite assurances, the boats and equipment seized with them has not been returned.
And in March last year came a second, similar incident. Fifteen sailors and marines were captured by Iranian troops, together with two boats, in the Gulf.
The Iranians "milked" that situation for maximum propaganda, putting them on TV before they were flown back in shiny new suits and holding plastic bags of presents. Their boats have not yet been returned either.
A diplomat said yesterday the Iranians see themselves as "experts in the propaganda war" and described the use of the boat as merely Tehran's "latest cynical stunt".
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