Sailors handed over in Iran
2004-06-24 10:17
London - Eight British servicemen, held in Iran since Monday, have been released into the care of British diplomats, the Foreign Office in London said Thursday.
The men were detained on Monday in the Shatt al-Arab waterway that runs along the Iran-Iraq border as they were delivering a patrol boat for the new Iraqi Riverine Patrol Service. The waterway is known as the Arvand River in Iran.
The waterway, Iraq's main link with the Persian Gulf that divides Iran and Iraq, has long been a source of tension between the neighbours. The 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war broke out after Saddam Hussein claimed the entire waterway.
Iran said the British vessels were a kilometre inside Iranian territorial waters.
On Tuesday, two sailors were shown on television apologising for mistakenly entering Iran's territorial waters.
"My name is Sergeant Thomas Harkins from the British Royal Marines. I do apologise for entering Iranian territorial waters," said one.
They were shown blindfolded and seated cross-legged on the ground.
- AFP