British government hails release of yachtsmen by Iran (Roundup)

Dec 2, 2009, 14:18 GMT

   London/Tehran - The unusually speedy release of five British yachtsmen held by Iran's Revolutionary Guards was hailed by the government in London Wednesday as proof that 'diplomacy can work.'

   The five men, whose racing yacht Kingdom of Bahrain strayed into Iranian waters on its passage from Bahrain to Dubai a week ago, were set free early Wednesday - just two days after their arrest was made public by the British government.

   Iran's IRNA news agency quoted the Revolutionary Guards' public relations office as saying that, after interrogations, it became clear that the yacht mistakenly entered Iranian waters and therefore the release was ordered.

   Their 'illegal entry' had been a 'mistake,' the statement said.

   A spokesman for Gordon Brown said the British Prime Minister was 'pleased' at the release. 'It was dealt with in a quiet, diplomatic way, which is entirely right,' he said.    Britons Luke Porter, Oliver Smith, Oliver Young, Sam Usher and David Bloomer - a radio journalist based in Bahrain - were sailing to Dubai to take part in the Dubai-Muscat Offshore Race when they were stopped by the guards on November 25.

   Reports said the Volvo 60 yacht had been adrift following problems with its propeller. The men were reported to have been taken to the Iranian island of Sirri where they were 'treated well,' according to British officials.

   Relatives of the sailors in Britain said they were 'delighted' and 'overjoyed' at the prospect of being reunited with them.

   The swift release is in stark contrast to other recent detentions of foreign citizens in Iran. The capture of the yachtsmen had earlier prompted fears of a prolonged diplomatic stand-off between London and Tehran.

   By Iranian standards, the negotiations to free the captives had been 'lightning fast,' said a BBC commentary.

   Confirmation of the arrest came just a day after Iran's announcement that it would build 10 new nuclear enrichment plants, a move that was condemned in Western capitals as being designed to hamper international efforts to solve the nuclear enrichment row with Iran.    In London, Foreign Secretary David Miliband went out of his way to praise the 'professional and straightforward way' in which the Iranian authorities had dealt with the case.

   'It was never a political matter. I do not believe there is any wider significance ... it shows that diplomacy can work,' Miliband said.

   He had earlier insisted that the case was a 'purely consular matter' and that the row over Iran's nuclear ambitions did not come into it.

   The Iranian authorities had given 'every indication' that they wanted to deal with the matter in a 'straightforward, consular' way, said Miliband.

   The British government stressed throughout that there was a difference between the capture of civilians in this way and the arrest of members of the armed forces.

   Confirming the release, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that the arrest had been 'purely a legal issue and not political.'

   'The British side wanted to make political use of the issue and therefore exaggerated it,' the spokesman was quoted as saying by Mehr news agency.

   'In Iran, no innocent person is convicted and, also in the case of the five Britons, it was right from the beginning clear that they would be released if innocent,' Mehmaparast said.

   In March 2007, Iran held 15 members of Britain's Royal Navy and Royal Marines for two weeks on the allegation of trespassing into Iranian waters.

   They were taken at gunpoint, paraded on television and freed amidst a fanfare of publicity and celebrations by President Ahmed Ahmadinejad in Tehran in early April 2007.