British servicemen to be released today

Eight British servicemen detained for illegally entering Iran’s territorial waters will be released today, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said.

The men were detained on Monday in the Shatt al-Arab waterway that runs along the Iran-Iraq border as they were delivering a patrol boat for the new Iraqi Riverine Patrol Service.

Earlier Iranian television showed footage of British royal navy sailors, blindfolded, apparently admitting to illegally entering the country’s waters.

Two of the eight men detained “confessed” to the alleged incursion in a filmed interview by the waterside broadcast yesterday and gave their names as Thomas Hawkins and Chief Petty Officer Robert Webster.

The men had been taking one of the boats for delivery to the new Iraqi Riverine Patrol Service in Basra when they were stopped. The British MoD said the boats were not armed.

British officials have been anxious to avoid escalating the dispute at a time when relations with Tehran are already strained.