Iran Defuses Tension With Release of 15 ; With a Dramatic Flair in a Prisoner Release, Iran Proves t

Apr 05, 08:29 PM

Current Headlines: By ASSOCIATED PRESS

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad beamed as he shook hands with the British sailors and marines. They smiled and thanked the hard-line leader for freeing them after 13 days in Iranian detention.

In a very public fashion, Iran defused a growing confrontation with Britain on Wednesday, announcing the surprise release of the 15 sailors and marines in what Ahmadinejad called an Easter gift.

Iran emerged with a measure of strength from its standoff with Britain over the captured service members -- deflecting attention from its disputed nuclear program and proving it can cause trouble in the Middle East when it chooses.

Yet the country's hard-line leaders also shied away from all-out confrontation with the West -- backing down once they had flexed their power, apparently worried they might go too far.

In that way, the standoff proved one thing above all else: Iran's internal decision-making process remains largely mysterious to the West.

Split between ultra-hard-line and more moderate factions, the Iranian regime moved back and forth on the seizures, sending mixed messages until suddenly, startlingly, announcing Wednesday that it would free the 15 captives.

Tehran did not get the main thing it sought -- a public apology for entering Iranian waters. Britain, which said its crew was in Iraqi waters when seized, insists it never offered a quid pro quo, either, instead relying on quiet diplomacy.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed "profound relief" over the peaceful end to the crisis. "Throughout we have taken a measured approach -- firm but calm, not negotiating, but not confronting either," Blair said in London, adding a message to the Iranian people that "we bear you no ill will."

The announcement in Tehran was a breakthrough in a crisis that had escalated over nearly two weeks, raising oil prices and fears of military conflict in the volatile region. The move to release the sailors suggested that Iran's hard-line leadership decided it had shown its strength but did not want to push the standoff too far.

Syria, Iran's close ally, said it played a role in winning the release. "Syria exercised a sort of quiet diplomacy to solve this problem and encourage dialogue between the two parties," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said in Damascus.

The announcement of the release came hours after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with President Bashar Assad in Damascus. The British marines and sailors were not part of their talks, and it was not clear if the release was timed to coincide with her visit.

Iran's official news agency said the British crew was to leave Iran by plane today.

Ahmadinejad timed the announcement so as to make a dramatic splash, springing it halfway through a two-hour news conference.

The president first gave a medal of honor to the commander of the Iranian coast guard who captured the Britons and admonished London for sending a mother, Leading Seaman Faye Turney, on such a dangerous mission in the Persian Gulf.

He said the British government was "not brave enough" to admit the crew had been in Iranian waters when it was captured.

Ahmadinejad then declared that even though Iran had the right to put the Britons on trial, he had "pardoned" them to mark the March 30 birthday of the Prophet Muhammad and the coming Easter holiday.

"This pardon is a gift to the British people," he said.

After the news conference, Iranian television showed a beaming Ahmadinejad on the steps of the presidential palace shaking hands with the Britons.

"Your people have been really kind to us, and we appreciate it very much," one of the British men told Ahmadinejad in English.

Ahmadinejad responded in Farsi, "You are welcome."

Wednesday's announcement led some analysts to conclude that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, decided the crisis had gone on long enough at a time when Tehran faces mounting pressure over its nuclear program. A day after the British crew was seized, the U.N. Security Council imposed new sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment.

During Ahmadinejad's news conference, the hard-line president said Britain had sent a letter to the Iranian Foreign Ministry pledging that entering Iranian waters "will not happen again." Tehran had demanded an apology for the alleged entry into its waters.

Britain's Foreign Office would not give details about the letter but said its position was clear that the detained crew had been in Iraqi waters.

Regardless of the territorial issue, the standoff showed that Tehran has ways to push back after the U.S. and Britain beefed up their military presence in the Persian Gulf this year.

The United States has accused Iran of sending weapons to Shiite militias in Iraq. That led to speculation that the Iranians seized the Britons in retaliation for the detention of five Iranians by U.S. forces in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil in January. Iran denied any connection.

However, the sudden resolution shows that if Western pressure on the nuclear program gathers again, Iran will most likely respond with the same mix of fierce rhetoric and pragmatic dealing it showed during the British standoff.

Ahmadinejad hinted at that even as he announced the Britons would go free. Speaking of U.N. Security Council sanctions targeting Iran's banks over the nuclear issue, he said: "If they want to create disturbances . . . for parts of our economy, [our] banks, we will retaliate."

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