BRITAIN/IRAN: British and Iranian officials were last night negotiating the release of eight British sailors detained by Iran on Monday in the Shatt al-Arab waterway.
Iranian television said last night that the release of the men was delayed until today, possible this morning. A diplomatic wrangle developed after the Iranian Foreign Ministry had earlier announced that the eight men - six Royal Marines and two Royal Navy sailors - had been set free.
But British officials later said that talks were continuing, although the hope remained that the men would be handed over to a senior representative of the British embassy in Tehran by yesterday evening.
"There is definite progress but we won't be sure it's over until they have formally been handed over to us," a British official said last night.
Talks were continuing between officials of both governments throughout yesterday in Bandar Mahshahr, where the British servicemen were being held.
Earlier, a spokesman for British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair said that his government had received confirmation from Tehran that the eight servicemen were being released.
However, it was not clear whether three small Royal Navy patrol boats seized with the men on Monday would be released.
According to Britain's Ministry of Defence, the men had been training the Iraqi riverside patrol service and accidentally strayed into Iranian territorial waters. The men were paraded blindfolded on Iranian TV and two of them apologised on camera.
Anticipating their release, British officials believe that it was a consequence of careful, low-key diplomacy led by British Foreign Secretary Mr Jack Straw, and his Iranian counterpart, Mr Kamal Kharrazi.