great thanx to martin & brian for so ably advancing
this investigation
the following snips are fresh this morning from
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/31/world/middleeast/31britain.html?ref=world
& in fact no longer front page news
iranian claim of arrest location is still reportedly
just an unspecified position 500 yards inside iranian
waters by a still unspecified definition
for some reason btw this exact position has so far
been given only on iranian tv
& has not been picked up by the western media at all
most curious that
also
alpha & beta captives now both appear convinced they
violated iranian territory
possibly based on persuasive empirical evidence
or else convinced they had better act like it
& in the 18th & final paragraph
the brits are weighing a new iranian quid pro quo face
saving proposal
also
via iran today
http://www2.irna.com/en/news/view/line-203/0703311056143539.htm
http://www2.irna.com/en/news/view/line-20/0703313732172708.htm
including a hint that the arrest position claimed by
iran may lie within the river estuary or landward of
the low tide line rather than in the gulf proper
tho i may be reading too much into a stray remark
&
perhaps most interestingly
http://www2.irna.com/en/news/view/line-20/0703315568154735.htm
my own crude estimation of the corrected iranian
claimed position
from what sketchy data i have seen
is that it falls much closer to the navigation channel
or just where one might expect an oceangoing freighter
to be in these shoals at any tide level
& most likely within or near the opening shown between
the land boundary terminus & the median line origin
http://www.dur.ac.uk/images/ibru/news/iran-iraq_3.png
very possibly even within the triangle that is both
landward of the iranian straight baseline & to the
iraqi side of the median line
& that would also be the most delicious probability of
all
i think
in piling up multiple ambiguities
but what are the legal implications of that strange
opening anyway
& can its closure be presumed by any means
likewise what are the legal implications of the
strange triangle
& finally
in such shifty sands & waters as these
& in light of this assessment
http://www.un-truth.com/?page_id=368
wouldnt it be more realistic to observe a median strip
or zone than a strictly linear median line feature
so as to reflect the full range of prevailing
fluctuations & possible understandings
or in other words
can the actually prevailing fudge factor be discerned
or estimated
& depicted
&
may we already have enough ammunition here to avert a
war
--- Martin Pratt <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dear colleagues,
>
> In light of the ongoing arguments over whether the
> British naval
> personnel detained by the Iranian government last
> week were in Iraqi or
> Iranian waters, I have posted a map and some notes
> which reflect my
> understanding of the boundary situation in the area
> at
> http://www.dur.ac.uk/ibru/resources/iran-iraq/. I
> welcome your comments,
> especially if you feel the notes contain any errors
> of fact.
>
> Regards,
>
> m a r t i n
>
> ==============================
> Martin Pratt
> Director of Research
> International Boundaries Research Unit
> Department of Geography
> Durham University
> Durham DH1 3LE
> United Kingdom
>
> Tel: +44 (0)191 334 1964
> Fax: +44 (0)191 334 1962
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.dur.ac.uk/ibru
____________________________________________________________________________________
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