Iranian forces seized the Britons, 14 men and Seaman Turney, last Friday, claiming they were operating in Iran’s territorial waters when they boarded a vessel sailing under an Indian flag to check for smuggling. British officials vehemently denied that their forces had strayed from Iraqi waters, and demanded the immediate return of the crew members.
I've read this a half dozen times - sailing under an Indian flag.
That is the only information about the vessel that the British are releasing. The important information was not whose flag the vessel was flying under, but whether it was going to Iran or to Iraq.
I'm assuming it was either going to or coming from Iran because otherwise it would be referred to as a vessel sailing to or from Iraq under an Indian flag.
Stopping a vessel trading with Iran in disputed waters is a lot more provocative than stopping one trading with Iraq.
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