By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 7:07 PM on 30th November 2009

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Five British sailors are being held hostage in Iran after their racing yacht may have inadvertently strayed into Iranian waters.

The Foreign Office confirmed that a racing yacht owned by Sail Bahrain and crewed by five British sailors was detained by the Iranian Navy on November 25.

The yacht is believed to have been on its way to the Dubai-Muscat Offshore Sailing Race which began on November 25 and may have 'inadvertently' strayed into Iranian waters.

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Held: Iranian Navy ships patrol the water surrounding the country. It is believed a British racing yacht inadvertently strayed into Iranian waters

The five crew members are still in Iran and are understood to be safe and well and their families have been informed, the statement added.

Foreign Office officials "immediately contacted the Iranian authorities in London and in Tehran on the evening of 25 November, both to seek clarification and to try and resolve the matter swiftly," Foreign Secretary David Miliband said today.

'Our ambassador in Tehran has raised the issue with the Iranian Foreign Ministry and we have discussed the matter with the Iranian Embassy in London.

'I hope this issue will soon be resolved. We will remain in close touch with the Iranian authorities, as well as the families,' he said.

However, fears were growing that the detention of the British sailors will dramatically increase tensions between Iran and the West.

In March 2007 HMS Cornwall made headlines around the world in March when seven Royal Marines and eight sailors were arrested at gunpoint.

The humiliation was compounded as the Iranians gleefully exploited the propaganda opportunities in the following days, broadcasting footage of the hostages apologising for straying into Iranian waters, and warmly thanking president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for releasing them.

Finally the decision to let two of the sailors, Faye Turney and Arthur Batchelor, sell their stories back in the UK caused a fierce backlash and left Defence Secretary Des Browne fighting for his job.

The dramatic development came as Iran fought off an international backlash over its plan to build 10 new nuclear enrichment plants.

The US and its allies fear the facilities give Iran the capability to produce weapons-grade nuclear material and have called for an immediate halt to the enrichment of uranium.

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