Thoughts of an Iranian Dude: The Truth Revealed: After Their Release, The British Troops Tell of the Maltreatment & Threatens They Had Faced in Iran

The freed British Sailors & Marines have many different stories to tell right after being released. They have now revealed all the maltreatments, threats & pressures which they had to face while under the Iranian government’s custody.

The interesting point is that for the first time, the British defense ministry decided to permit the 15 former captives to sell whatever stories they have, due to the huge media interest.

A British defense ministry spokeswoman said: “These are considered to be exceptional circumstances. After being seized by Iranian forces in the Shat al-Arab waterway between Iraq and Iran, they would be able to keep the money they received.”

But the opposition parties and many other government critics don’t seem to have liked the decision. Conservatives & Liberal Democrats have both objected the decision made by the Labor government, describing it as inappropriate, and harmful to the picture of the country's armed forces. The big debate is: why should those British servicemen/women who are killed in Iraq every single day receive the least support from the government and the least attention from the media, but those troops involved in such political games make the headlines become super stars and can make six figure profits over night. To many, it is an apparent sign of injustice, unfairness, and discrimination.

Defense spokesman for the opposition Liberal Democrats, Nick Harvey, said: “The decision would raise eyebrows. I sincerely hope this will not backfire into a loss of public sympathy for the service personnel. The ministry would be well advised to take a fresh look at the rules and consider whether they need revising,” Reuters reported.

A former commander of British peacekeeping forces in Bosnia, Colonel Bob Stewart, told BBC television that, “It’s just unprecedented. Iran’s seizure of the 15 was hardly one of the most glorious annals of royal naval history. The MoD had turned a military disaster into a media circus.”

The shadow defense secretary, Liam Fox, said: “One of the great things about our armed forces is their professionalism and dignity. Many people who shared the anxiety of the hostages’ abduction will feel that selling their stories is somewhat undignified and falls below the very high standards we have come to expect from our servicemen and women. The released hostages are behaving like reality TV stars. 'I am appalled that the MoD is encouraging them to profit in this way.”

The defense ministry said in an statement: “It was clear that the stories they had to tell were likely to have emerged via family and friends regardless of any decision the navy took.”

The commander officer of the crew when it was seized by Iranian forces on March 23, Lieutenant Felix Carman, told BBC that, “My main aim is to tell the story. There’s some people who might be making money, but that's an individual's decision, that’s very private, but that’s not something that myself or many of the others will do.”

The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Menezies Campbell, told the BBC that, “And there is, of course, the very understandable feeling of the families of those who have died in Iraq as to why it should be that those who have survived should profit in this way.”