The 15 British military personnel freed by Iran after a two-week
diplomatic stand-off arrived back in England Thursday to cheers and
questions about the incident and its implications.
As flight BA6634 from Teheran touched down at London's Heathrow
Airport at 12:02 PM (11:02 GMT), the group burst into applause.
Dressed in military uniforms and carrying personal luggage, they
briefly posed in a straight line for pictures before they were
flown by helicopter to a base at Chivenor in Devon, 320 kilometers
southwest of London, for a private meeting with their families,
medical checks and debriefing.
The death of four British soldiers in Iran's neighbor Iraq has
tempered joy over the return of the 15 marines and sailors, British
Prime Minister Tony Blair said.
"Just as we rejoice at the return of our 15 service personnel,
so today we are also grieving and mourning for the loss of our
soldiers in Basra who were killed as a result of a terrorist act,"
he told reporters as the plane landed.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a news conference
broadcast round the world on Wednesday he had decided to forgive
and free the 15 even though Britain was not "brave enough" to admit
they had strayed from Iraqi into Iranian waters.
The carefully stage-managed performance was seen by some as
trying to soften the former Iranian Revolutionary Guard's
vehemently anti-Western image abroad. But not everyone agreed.
"The bad news for Teheran is that the British people are now
more likely to see Iran as the bad guy as a result of this," said
Dan Plesch, author and commentator on nuclear proliferation at
London's School of Oriental and African Studies.
"Your average Briton now will be much more aware that Iran is a
potential threat, despite the way it ended," he added.
'Blair's letter of apology'
Thursday Iran said the group had been released because British
Prime Minister Tony Blair had sent a personal letter of apology
over the incident a statement that was "categorically denied" by
Blair's Downing Street office.
The peaceful end to the standoff, which began when the world's
fourth largest oil exporter seized the 15 in the northern Gulf on
March 23, prompted a drop in oil prices from recent highs.
After the flight left Teheran, Iranian television showed more
interviews and images of the group, wearing civilian clothing,
drinking tea and clutching colorful gift bags.
"The treatment has been great. It will be nice to get back and
get home to see my family," said Faye Turney, the only woman in the
group. "Thank you for letting us go. We apologize for our actions,"
she added, wearing a headscarf and looking strained.
During the flight they put on military uniform again.
Even before they had touched down, the post-mortem had begun on
what closed-door deals might have been struck and just what it
meant for future relations between Iran and the West.
"The (EU) presidency hopes that Iran uses this opportunity to
find solutions to other issues in cooperation with the
international community and the European Union," current EU
president Germany said in a statement.
(China Daily via agencies April 6, 2007)
