THE AUSTRALIAN: A NO-NONSENSE response enabled Australian sailors to escape a tense four-hour standoff with Iranian gunboats in the Persian Gulf, defence says.
The 2004 incident, which only came to light today, has similarities with the capture of British sailors in the Gulf earlier this year by Iranian forces.
In the previously undisclosed encounter, Royal Australian Navy sailors in December 2004 were evacuated by helicopter after being surrounded by five Iranian gunboats. Aussie crew 'fended off' Iranian gunboats (more)
Mark Alexander
