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E-mailIrish man seized in Iran over yacht race
An Irish man, David Bloomer, from a seaside town outside Dublin, has been seized in Iran.
Bloomer was one of five sailors detained last week when their yacht, The Kingdom of Bahrain, sailed into Iranian waters.
Bloomer's wife Vanessa had refused to comment on her husband's detention while negotiations were underway to secure the men's release. A friend said she was obviously “very upset.”
The other four men detained with Bloomer are all from England and were named as Oliver Smith, 31, Oliver Young, 21, Sam Usher, and Luke Porter, 21.
The Kingdom Of Bahrain was stopped by the Iranian navy last Wednesday as it sailed from Bahrain to Dubai to join the 360-mile Dubai-Muscat Offshore Sailing Race.
Bloomer is a DJ for Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation where he has worked since the mid-1980s.
He was on the yacht as part of the crew but had hoped to broadcast from the race.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he was hopeful the men would be released soon. "There's certainly no confrontation or argument. As far as we are aware, these people are being well-treated, which is right and what we would expect from a country like Iran."
He said the sailors were not members of the Royal Navy and that, "These are five civillians. They are yachtsmen, They were going about their sport. It seems they may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters. We look forward to the Iranian government dealing with this promptly."
It is not the first time Iran has detained foreign citizens. In 2007 the Iranian Navy captured 15 British Navy personnel while they patrolled Iraqi waters. This caused an dinternational diplomatic row and the Navy personnel were released weeks later.
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