CAIRO: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday handed over 15 British sailors and marines to the British embassy in Iran.
The captives were held for 12 days for sailing in disputed waters in the northern Persian Gulf. They are scheduled to fly home today.
Ahmadinejad said the soldiers were being released as a “gift to the British people in a unilateral decision made for humanitarian reasons.
The announcement came unexpectedly at a press conference in Tehran following approximately 45 minutes of Ahmadinejad discussing Islamic history and commending the revolutionary guard who had captured the naval personnel on March 23.
The timing of the release coincides with Islamic and Christian holidays.
On the occasion of the birthday of the great prophet [Mohamed] … and for the occasion of the passing of Christ, I say the Islamic Republic government and the Iranian people – with all powers and legal right to put the soldiers on trial – forgave those 15, said Ahmedinejad, referring to the Muslim prophet s birthday on March 30 and the Easter season.
The president claimed to have wanted to arrange the release of those captured much sooner, but blamed Britain for prolonging the process by “behaving in a bad way, and not being brave enough to admit its mistake by sailing in what Iran claims were Iranian waters.
Ahmadinejad said Iran will never accept trespassing on its territorial waters. But Britain maintains that the sailors were in Iraqi waters when captured.
Ahmedinijad also criticized the fact that a mother was among the sailors. How can you justify seeing a mother away from her home, her children? Why don t they respect family values in the West? he said.
Following the release, British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed his “profound relief in a terse statement to the press.
“To the Iranian people, we bear you no ill will. On the contrary, we respect Iran as an ancient civilization, he said, adding that “the disagreements we have with your government we wish to resolve peacefully with dialogue.
Footage showed a smiling Ahmadinejad joking with the former captives, who were dressed in suits rather than military uniforms, after the release ceremony.
Al-Jazeera International, the English satellite news channel, reported that one soldier said “I appreciate everything your kind people have done for us.
Ahmedinejad asked Blair not to judge the military personnel for the truths that they said, referring to televised confessions by the sailors admitting culpability.
“I ask Mr Blair, instead of reinforcing international tensions and modernizing Britain s nuclear weapons and occupying other countries, to return to justice and morality.
Ashraf Keshk, expert on Gulf affairs at the Diplomatic Center in Cairo told The Daily Star Egypt that the Iranian president made the decision to advance Iranian interests in the propaganda stakes.
“He made the right decision in light of regional and international pressure on Iran. And he managed to use this opportunity to show a different face of Iran, he said.
Additionally, Keshk suggested that the change in US rhetoric, indicated by President George Bush referring to the captives as “hostages for the first time, was also a factor in the decision.
He added: “Iran wanted to show through the good treatment of the prisoners that it is not the stereotyped image of a terrorist nation as the West perceives it to be . International opinion on Iran will not change at the official level, but they might have made advances in the domain of public opinion.
Mehrdad Konsari of the London-based Center for Arab and Iranian Studies said on Al-Jazeera International that Britain had always practiced “quiet diplomacy with Iran, avoiding provocation until recent confrontations over Palestine and the nuclear situation.
“It would be wrong to say there was no damage [caused by the capture] but the damage has been contained, he said.
Ahmedinejad invited other powers to also “denounce all signs of enmity, and to “deploy efforts to spread principles of justice and freedom.
At time of press, the Iranian embassy was not prepared with a statement when contacted by The Daily Star Egypt.
