Iran frees British sailors

2004-06-23 14:34

Tehran - Iran's Foreign Ministry said Iran had released eight British sailors detained for illegally entering Iranian waters, defusing a dispute that had gone to high levels in both Tehran and London.

"The eight British sailors, including six soldiers and two ranking military officials, have been released," a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.

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.

A top military official had said the sailors were being released because their intrusion into Iran's waters was apparently a mistake. Two of the sailors had been shown on Iranian TV apologising.

A foreign ministry spokesperson said that Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal played a key role in resolving the minor border incident that was turning into a major diplomatic crisis.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw had phoned Kharrazi on Tuesday to ask for the release of the sailors, who were shown on Iranian television blindfolded and seated cross-legged on the ground.

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," the one said on Al-Alam, an Arabic-language station.

The broadcast showed the men standing next to a river and reading from a prepared text. It also showed the three British military patrol boats and weapons it said had been confiscated from the sailors.

The detentions follow a fresh strain on relations after London helped draft a resolution rebuking Iran for past nuclear cover-ups at last week's meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors.

Iran says its programme is aimed only at producing energy, while the United States accuses Tehran of trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran accused Britain, which it had seen as a partner in the investigation into its nuclear activities, of caving in to US pressure.

Iranians repeatedly demonstrated in front of the British Embassy in Tehran last month, throwing stones at the building to protest against the occupation of Iraq.

Protesters also condemned war damage to Shiite holy shrines in Iraq, demanded the expulsion of the British ambassador to Tehran and called for the embassy to be closed.

Iran has expressed pleasure over the toppling of Saddam, but has strongly opposed deployment of US-led forces on its borders, citing security concerns.

- AP