IRNA, Iran
February 2, 2005 Wednesday 12:10 PM EST
Iran excluded from military training in UK
Tehran
Iran has continued to be excluded from 137 countries that have
received military training in the UK in the past three years,
according to official data.
In a written reply to parliament published Wednesday, Defence
Minister Ivior Caplin detailed more than 12,000 overseas military
personnel receiving training at UK establishment since 2002,
including countries involved in conflicts and wars.
The list excluded Iran but included many from countries subjected to
UK arms sanctions, like Afghanistan, Angola, Armenia, , Azerbaijan,
Bosnia, China, Croatia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Iraq, Libya,
Sierra Leone, Sudan and Yugoslavia.
Among the Persian Gulf region, Caplin detailed that 108 students from
Bahrain had receiving training at UK military establishments, 1,021
from Kuwait, 518 from Oman, 176 from Qatar, 271 from Saudi Arabia and
546 from the United Arab Emirates.
Iran`s other neighbours included 7 from Afghanistan, 5 from Armenia,
8 from Azerbaijan, 30 from Iraq, 148 from Pakistan, 110 from Turkey
and 1 from Turkmenistan.
The effective ban on Iran receiving military training caused
particular controversy during Iraq`s 1980-88 imposed war, when it was
revealed that the UK was training Iraqi pilots but not offering the
same facilities to Iran.
Britain`s sanctions regime against Iran has also been found to be
uniquely based on a national arms embargo, unlike the overwhelming
majority of others that are imposed by international or regional
organizations.