Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have released five Britons detained in the Gulf after their yacht apparently strayed into Iranian waters, Britain's Foreign Office said on Wednesday. Britain had stressed the five men, detained on November 25, were civilians and called for their speedy release.
A senior Iranian official warned on Tuesday that Iran would take serious measures against the five if it proved they had "evil intentions". "After getting necessary guarantees, Iran released the five," the Guards said, state radio reported. "We reached the conclusion that they entered Iran's territorial waters by mistake." British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he had received confirmation that the men were heading towards international waters on the way to Dubai.
"I welcome the fact that this has been dealt with in a professional and straightforward way by the Iranian authorities. As I said yesterday this is purely a consular case," he told reporters. Britain and Iran are at loggerheads over Iran's nuclear programme, which Washington and its European allies fear is a cover to build bombs. Iran insists its nuclear work is aimed at generating power to meet booming domestic demand.
Hard-line President Ahmadinejad accused Britain on Tuesday of "tainting the tranquillity" of Iran's talks with six major powers over its nuclear activities, state television reported. Iran's Foreign Ministry said the detention of the five Britons was not politically motivated. "Britain exaggerated about the detention of the five. They wanted to use this case to pressure Iran," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told semi-official Mehr news agency.
Miliband agreed there had been no wider significance. Iran also accuses the West, particularly Britain and the United States of fomenting the post-election unrest in the Islamic state. London and Washington deny the claim. The June 12 presidential vote returned hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power with a wide margin, his reformist opponents cried foul and thousands of Iranians took to the streets in the biggest anti-government protests in the 30-year history of the Islamic Republic.
The election dispute also exposed deep rifts within the normally opaque political and religious establishment. Three Americans who crossed into Iran from Iraq in July are still in detention and face spying charges. Their families say they were hiking and strayed across the border accidentally. Iran seized eight British Royal Navy sailors and seven marines off its coast in 2007. They were released after 15 days.