Early during their two-week detention in Iran, a group of British sailors and marines were blindfolded, hands cuffed behind their backs, and lined up facing a wall in a prison in Tehran. Behind them, they recalled, Iranian guards cocked their guns.Held in isolation by guards who spoke no English, barred from talking to one another, and so bereft of information that they thought perhaps no one knew they were missing, "Some of us feared the worst," said Royal Marine Capt. Chris Air, 25.
" 'Lads, lads, I think we're going to get executed,' " a voice said in the darkness, recalled one of the marines, Joe Tindell. After that, someone got sick, "and as far as I was concerned, he had just had his throat cut."
In fact, it was a bit of psychological intimidation, six members of the crew said Friday at a news conference, the first time they have spoken publicly about their March 23 capture by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and their time in captivity, which ended with their surprise release on Thursday. They spent long periods blindfolded and in isolation, and they were threatened with up to seven years in prison if they did not admit to invading Iranian waters, said Royal Navy Lt. Felix Carman.
Read More
