Middle East News

London considering remarks by top Iranian official on captives

Apr 3, 2007, 8:03 GMT

London/Tehran - The British government is seeking more details from Iran after a senior Iranian official called for a diplomatic solution to the crisis over the captured navy crew, reports said Tuesday. Sources said London had been 'encouraged' by remarks made by Ali Larijani, of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, who said that putting the 15 Royal Navy personnel on trial was not Tehran's priority. The Foreign Office said it was studying the remarks, made to Britain's Channel 4 News. Officials in London said they shared Mr Larijani's 'desire to make early progress' and would respond later. A Foreign Office statement said: 'There remain some differences between us, but we can confirm we share (Mr Larijani's) preference for early bilateral discussions to find a diplomatic solution to this problem.' Larijani, who is Iran's chief nuclear negotiator and head of the powerful security council, also called on the British government to send a delegation to Iran to discuss the case of the soldiers and royal marines captured in the northern Gulf on March 23. Meanwhile the presidential office in Tehran confirmed Tuesday that a press conference by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad which had been scheduled to take place later in the day and was expected to focus on the diplomatic row was postponed to Wednesday. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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London considering remarks by top Iranian official on captives

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