Iran - Brit Sailors To Be Freed

I won't relax until they are back in British hands, but it looks like the detained British sailors will soon be home.

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has pardoned 15 British military personnel being held in Iranian custody and vowed to set them free shortly.

"I declare that the people of Iran and the government of Iran -- in full power to place on trial the military people -- to give amnesty and pardon to these 15 people and I announce their freedom and their return to the people of Britain," Ahmadinejad told a news conference.

The action was a goodwill gesture for the Iranian new year which began last week, he said. An Iranian diplomat in London told The Associated Press that the 15 would be handed over to the British Embassy in Tehran.

"They will go through some brief formalities and then they will go to the embassy," he said.

A spokeswoman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed the announcement: "We are now establishing exactly what this means in terms of the method and timing of their release."

By describing the release as "a gift to the British people" , Ahmadinejad neatly sidestepped the whole question about who which side was correct on the location of the sailor's capture. That allows both sides to go on claiming to be in the right even though it is probable that neither is. That's no accident - I'm certain a lot of hard-work diplomacy went into such a convenient way for both sides to save face. A large portion of that diplomacy seems to have been conducted with Syria as an intermediary.

So much for "wimpish" Britain. If the hardline American Right and their Colonel Blimp allies in Britain had their way, right now the UK would still be refusing to ever talk to Iran, would have used missiles or fighter bombers to strike Iranian petrochemical and nuclear facilities and perhaps even have occupied Kharg Island. All in pursuit of some macho dream of past and present Empires.

And the 15 sailors would be dead, along with many other Brits and Iranians.

Update The BBC is saying that the prisoners are now free, having met Ahmadinejad who joked with them that they had "came on a mandatory vacation". One of the prisoners thanked the Iranian president, saying " "I'd like to say that myself and my whole team are very grateful for your forgiveness. I'd like to thank yourself and the Iranian people... Thank you very much, sir."

The BBC reports that the freed salors will fly home on Thursday.

A victory for "jaw jaw" over "war war".

Update 2 The Guardian has the text of Tony Blair's statement on the release of the prisoners. There's one glaring ommission:

Throughout we have taken a measured approach, firm but calm, not negotiating but not confronting either.

I would like to thank our allies in Europe, our allies in the United Nations Security Council for their support, and also our friends and allies in the region who played their part.

We're grateful to all of them as we are to the officials in the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defense and here in Downing Street for the work that they have done.

And to the Iranian people I would simply say this: We bear you no ill will, on the contrary, we respect Iran as an ancient civilization as a nation with a proud and dignified history.

And the disagreements that we have with your government we wish to resolve peacefully through dialogue.

No mention at all of US "help", from either the Senate or Dubya. I guess Nancy Pelosi was right again when she said the House shouldn't make a statement unless the UK asked for one.