Images 'part of propaganda war'

The Iranian broadcasts of images of captured Royal Navy personnel have been criticised by the UK government. Why have the crew ended up in front of the cameras - and what can be inferred from their statements?

Since their capture by Iran on 23 March, members of the British crew from HMS Cornwall have been shown on Iranian television on several occasions.

The most recently issued photographs appear to be stills taken from a video, and show the captured crew in tracksuits, smiling and playing chess.

They are thought to have been issued to show the captives - being held in a secret location and without consular access - are being treated well.

Iranian TV said crew members admitted they were in its waters

Tony Blair said such broadcasts simply enhanced people's "disgust" at captured personnel being "paraded and manipulated".

Analysts suggest there is a purpose behind every image released by the Iranians.

"What they are doing is managing the propaganda war," said defence analyst Paul Beaver.

Televised statements from four crew members that they had trespassed in Iranian waters - which the UK denies - were seen as a reaction to the tough stance adopted by Britain at the start of the incident.

The "confessions" aired on the state-run Al-Alam satellite channel prompted the foreign secretary and prime minister to express concern over possible coercion.

Direct contact was later established between the UK and Iran - with Iran attributing the "positive" shift in diplomacy as a reason for it not airing video statements from the other 11 navy personnel.

Survival instinct

Some have questioned the apparent willingness of the seven Marines and eight sailors seized in the northern Gulf to talk on camera in the first place.

Under the Geneva Convention, every prisoner of war is required to give only their name, rank, serial number and date of birth to their captors.

New pictures show the crew relaxing

Paul Beaver has said it appeared the convention had been breached by the Iranians, but the crew were not strictly covered as its provisions related to a time of war.

The Ministry of Defence said all personnel would attend a series of briefings known as operational training and guidance (op-tag) before being deployed to the Gulf.

This would traditionally include instruction in so-called conduct after capture, although specific counter-interrogation technique training is reserved for air crew and special forces.

Military personnel who have been captured in the past, such as author and former SAS troop leader Andy McNab, say survival remains the main instinct in such a situation.

"Their job now is to keep alive, to make sure they don't antagonise the very important people in their lives - the guards - not the political situation," Mr McNab told the BBC 10 O'Clock News.

"So they have got to stay alive, got to make sure they don't antagonise anyone, make sure they get fed and get medical care. So what they are doing is the correct thing."

They are smiling, they are taking part, but they are taking part in a way which is not wholly constructive Professor Andrew Lambert Legal issues over capture

According to the former head of the Royal Navy, Sir Alan West, likely guidance to the captured personnel would be to "say what they want you to say".

"It means absolutely nothing, what they say, to be honest," he said.

"Don't tell them secrets, clearly, but if they tell you: 'Say this', well if that's going to get you out, then do it."

Sir Alan has described the appearance of the captured crew on Iranian television as a "charade".

"One doesn't know what they've been promised... what they've been told about what they're doing," he said.

According to Professor Andrew Lambert, from the department of war studies at King's College London, the captured crew are "willingly playing along because they know the game that they are taking part in".

"They are smiling, they are taking part, but they are taking part in a way which is not wholly constructive."