British Hostages Released From Iranian Capture

Banafsheh's List
Christina Ficara - All Headline News Staff Reporter

London, England (AHN) - A British couple and an Australian man are released unharmed after being held "hostage" for 13 days by Iranian authorities.

The three were seized by the Iranian Navy as they sailed from their home in Dubai to a disputed island in the Gulf. They were freed after intense pressure from the British Foreign Office.

Rupert and Linda Wise and Paul Shulton are still unsure why they were questioned for days while kept under armed guard.

The trio was seized at gun point by Iranian Navy patrol boats on October 28, while sailing their boat to the disputed island of Abu Musa, which is claimed by both Iran and the United Arab Emirates.

They were then taken to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and questioned repeatedly by officials.

After days of being denied consular access, they were eventually allowed to make a phone call home to their children in Dubai.

"[We had contact] with our family, but repeatedly denied access to the Foreign Office and indeed we were forbidden to say where we were. We were kept under lock and key, not allowed out, armed guards outside, guards inside, for the full period of our detention. We were hostages," recounts Mr. Wise to BBC Radio 4's Today program.

The Foreign Office was then alerted, allowing the British Embassy in Tehran to negotiate their hand-over to British officials.

But as they were about to board a flight home last Monday, they were re-arrested at the airport by the Iranian judiciary and taken to a secret location in Tehran, breaking a carefully negotiated agreement between the two countries' foreign offices.

Mr. Wise tells the BBC they were not physically abused but had gone through what he called "mental torture".

The Wise couple finally flew back to their home in Dubai early Friday morning.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says "a good deal of work behind the scenes" had helped secure their release.