Iran Media Slow to Report on UK Sailors Crisis

The first official Iranian commentary on the seizure of British sailors by the Iranian military appeared only late in the afternoon on 23 March in the Iranian media.

The only official commentary observed by BBC Monitoring so far came from Iranian state television at around 1800 gmt (2130 Tehran time). The TV quoted an Iranian Foreign Ministry official as saying the British ship had strayed into Iranian territorial waters. The spokesman was quoted by the presenter as saying that the British charge d’Affairs in Tehran had been summoned in protest. This was the very last report of the main evening news bulletin, and the presenter struggled to read out the text, which was apparently handed over to her at the last moment.

The TV did not offer any reporting on the story in its earlier bulletins. Earlier in the day, the Iranian news agency IRNA carried only a short factual report based on the reporting in Western news agencies.

Friday, 23 March is a public holiday in Iran as the country is celebrating the Iranian New Year period.

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Middle East. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.