Diplomat release raises hope for end to UK-Iran stand-off

The sudden release of an Iranian diplomat missing for two months in Iraq raised new hope today that 15 British sailors and marines seized by Iran may soon be freed.

It also suggests the stand-off over the captive Britons may end with a de facto prisoner swap – something both Tehran and London have publicly discounted.

Diplomat Jalal Sharafi arrived in Tehran today, hours after he was freed by his captors in Iraq, officials said. He was seized February 4 by uniformed gunmen in Karradah, a Shiite-controlled district of Baghdad.

Iran alleged the diplomat had been abducted by an Iraqi military unit commanded by US forces – a charge repeated by several Iraqi Shiite lawmakers. But US authorities denied any role in his disappearance.

In Baghdad, an Iraqi Foreign Ministry official said the Iraqi government had exerted pressure on those holding Sharafi to release them – but he would not identify who had held Sharafi.

But another senior government official said Iraqi intelligence had been holding him. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to release the information.

Sharafi was a second secretary at the Iranian embassy involved in plans to open a branch of the Iranian national bank. US officials allege that Iran provides money and weapons to Iraqi Shiite militias.

Sharafi was abducted a month after the US military arrested five other Iranians in northern Iraq. One of those captives was described by the US as a senior officer of the Quds Force, an elite unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry official said his government was also working “intensively” for the release of those five other Iranians to “help in the release of the British sailors and marines.”

Neither Iran, Iraq or Britain has said explicitly that a prisoner swap was in the works. Iran has denied it seized the Britons to force the release of Iranians held in Iraq, and Britain has steadfastly insisted it would not negotiate for the sailors’ freedom.

In Washington, US President George W. Bush signalled the same. “I also strongly support the prime minister’s declaration that there should be no quid pro quos when it comes to the hostages,” Bush said.

Nevertheless, the release of Sharafi and efforts to free the other five Iranians suggested that the parameters of a deal might be taking shape.

Iran maintains the British sailors had encroached on Iranian territory when they were seized by naval units of the Revolutionary Guards on March 23. Britain insists its sailors and marines were in Iraqi waters and has demanded their unconditional release.

Prime Minister Tony Blair told reporters the next two days would be “fairly critical” to resolving the stand-off over the navy crew, although he gave no details what he meant.

However, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett urged caution in expectations of a swift resolution, saying that “diplomatic efforts continue.”

Beckett also said Britain still had not been granted consular access to the captives.

With the stand-off at a sensitive stage, Britain reacted with caution to the release of new pictures of the British captives on the Web site of Iran’s Fars News Agency.

The images showed six sailors sitting on a carpet in a room, wearing blue, black and red tracksuits. One of them also showed two sailors playing chess.

The caption said: “British sailors are chatting and eating fruit, drinking coffee and playing chess. It seems that the sailors are satisfied with their situation, in which they are enjoying good conditions instead of working in a hard situation in the Persian Gulf.”

Faye Turney, the only woman among the captured, was shown without a headscarf. She had worn one in initial images released of the Royal Navy crew.

Britain had expressed outrage over the airing of earlier videos last week, in which Turney and others “confessed” to violating Iranian territorial waters. The British also froze most diplomatic contacts with Iran and urged its European and Asian allies to step up pressure on Tehran to free the captives.

But the latest pictures did not show any further confessions that have been condemned by the British government. And as tensions have escalated, the Iranians have appeared to back off somewhat.

Yesterday, an Iranian state-run television station said all 15 of the Britons had confessed to illegally entering Iranian waters. But state-run radio said the confessions would not be broadcast because of what it called “positive changes” in Britain’s negotiating stance.

Chief Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani said Iranian officials “definitely believe that this issue can be resolved and there is no need for any trial.”

Blair said if Iran wants to resolve the stand-off with diplomacy, “the door is open.”

Britain had two options, Blair said.

“One is to try settle this by way of peaceful and calm negotiation to get our people back as quickly as possible,” he said. “The other is to make it clear that if that is not possible, that we have to take an increasingly tougher position.”