Five British yachtsmen detained in the Gulf last week by Revolutionary Guards were freed yesterday after it was determined they inadvertently strayed into Iran’s territorial waters, Tehran and London said.
“The five Britons who had illegally entered with their vessel into the territorial waters of the Islamic Republic of Iran and who were arrested near Siri island have been freed hours ago,” the Guards said in a statement carried by Fars news agency.
The British Foreign Office said Iran confirmed the release.
“The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs have confirmed that the five yachtsmen have been released,” a spokesman said in London. “We understand that they are being towed to international waters and will be met by a representative from the sailing company.”
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband hailed the “professional” way in which Iran dealt with London over the sailors.
“I welcome the fact that this has been dealt with in a professional and straightforward way by the Iranian authorities,” he said, reiterating that the case was entirely a consular matter and not linked to politics.
Miliband had pressed his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki to release the five — Oliver Smith, Oliver Young, Sam Usher, Luke Porter and sports journalist David Bloomer, who holds dual Irish-British nationality.
The Guards, whose navy patrols Gulf waters, said the five sailors were interrogated and “after investigation it became evident that their illegal entry was a mistake.”
“So they were freed after taking the needed written commitments,” the Guards said.
The five had been held since Nov. 25, and on Tuesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie warned they would be dealt with “firmly” if found guilty of illegal entry into Iranian waters.
Tehran accused London of politicizing the issue.
“This was not a political issue at all, but the British government ... tried to take advantage from this politically and exaggerated the issue,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told Mehr news agency after the men were freed.
Families of the five expressed relief at the news they would be released.
David Young, father of 21-year-old Oliver, said he was “very relieved,” adding: “We thought it would be over quickly. This is what we were hoping for.”
Luke Porter’s father Charles had been more cautious, saying: “We are not making any statement until we have proper confirmation from the Foreign Office.
Andrew Pindar, chairman of the Sail Bahrain team, which owns the sailors’ yacht, had said the vessel might have drifted into Iranian waters because of a damaged propeller.
“We received a call from the crew stating that they had been stopped by an Iranian navy vessel,” he said in a statement on Tuesday. “We understood that the crew believed they were in UAE [United Arab Emirates] waters, but due to a fault with the propeller, they may have inadvertently drifted into Iranian waters.”
The five were sailing from Bahrain to Dubai for a race when their yacht, The Kingdom of Bahrain, was stopped in the Gulf, the UK Foreign Office said on Tuesday.
They were believed to have been intercepted near the island of Abu Musa, whose ownership is disputed by Iran and the UAE, a Bahraini interior ministry source said.
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