The Associated Press is reporting that Iran will free the British sailors it’s been holding for the last several weeks:
TEHRAN, Iran – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that Iran would free the 15 detained British sailors and marines as a gift to the British people.
He pardoned the sailors and announced they would be released following a news conference at which he pinned a medal on the chest of the Iranian coast guard commander who intercepted the sailors and marines in the northern Gulf on March 23.
Ahmadinejad said Iran will never accept trespassing in its territorial waters.
“On behalf of the great Iranian people, I want to thank the Iranian coast guard who courageously defended and captured those who violated their territorial waters,” he said.
“We are sorry that British troops remain in Iraq and their sailors are being arrested in Iran,” Ahmadinejad said.
Good news if true.
Assuming it’s true, has Iran won anything? Has Britain lost anything?
Given that an Iranian diplomat has been released in Iraq, who it was thought, had been captured by the US, it is likely that they won his release. We’ll have to see in coming months if the US releases the other five “diplomatic” staff it captured in raids, to see if there was some kind of deal for the British sailors.
Also, it could be an indication that either Ahmedinejad lost an internal power struggle and was forced to end the crisis as quickly as possible, or that he merely sought to ratchet up pressure internally only to release the sailors just to show the rest of the Iranian government that he could still affect events in a profound manner. All in all, hard to say.
Also, I should note that having Ahmedinejad forgive the sailors for trespassing and releasing them as a gift to Britain also raises his profile, as a statesman and a man of peace (perceptions matter). Plus, it allows him to save face.