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TEHRAN : Five British yachtsmen detained in the Gulf last week by Revolutionary Guards were freed on Wednesday after it was determined they inadvertently strayed into Iran's territorial waters, Tehran and London said.
"The five Britons who had illegally entered with their vessel into the territorial waters of the Islamic Republic of Iran and who were arrested near Siri island have been freed hours ago," the Guards said in a statement carried by Fars news agency.
The British Foreign Office said Iran confirmed the release of the men, who had been sailing from Bahrain to Dubai to take part in a race.
"The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs have confirmed that the five yachtsmen have been released," a spokesman said in London.
"We understand that they are being towed to international waters and will be met by a representative from the sailing company."
Noaman al-Hassan, Bahrain Maritime Sailing Association general secretary, told AFP in Manama the boat would be towed to the Dubai International Marine Club.
The Guards, whose navy patrols Gulf waters, said the five sailors were interrogated and "after investigation it became evident that their illegal entry was a mistake".
"So they were freed after taking the needed written commitments."
The five had been held since November 25, and on Tuesday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie warned they would be dealt with "firmly" if found guilty of illegally entering Iranian waters with "ill intentions".
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband had pressed his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki to release the five - Oliver Smith, Oliver Young, Sam Usher, Luke Porter and sports journalist David Bloomer, who holds dual Irish-British nationality.
Miliband had said they appeared to have "inadvertently" strayed into Iranian waters, adding that the incident had "nothing to do" with politics or the standoff over the Islamic republic's nuclear programme, which the West suspects has military aims despite Tehran's denial.
On Wednesday, he hailed Tehran for handling the issue in a professional way.
"I welcome the fact that this has been dealt with in a professional and straightforward way by the Iranian authorities," Miliband said, reiterating that the case was entirely a consular matter.
Tehran accused London of politicising the issue, however.
"This was not a political issue at all, but the British government... tried to take advantage from this politically and exaggerated the issue," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told Mehr news agency after the men were freed.
Families of the five expressed relief at the news they would be released.
David Young, father of 21-year-old Oliver, said he was "very relieved," adding: "We thought it would be over quickly. This is what we were hoping for."
Luke Porter's father Charles had been more cautious, saying: "We are not making any statement until we have proper confirmation from the Foreign Office.
Andrew Pindar, chairman of the Sail Bahrain team which owns the sailors' yacht, had said the vessel may have drifted into Iranian waters because of a damaged propeller.
"We received a call from the crew stating that they had been stopped by an Iranian navy vessel," he said in a statement on Tuesday.
"We understood that the crew believed they were in UAE waters, but due to a fault with the propeller, they may have inadvertently drifted into Iranian waters."
The yacht, "The Kingdom of Bahrain," was stopped last Wednesday in the Gulf, the Foreign Office said on Tuesday.
It was believed to have been intercepted near the Iranian-controlled island of Abu Musa, whose ownership is disputed by Iran and the United Arab Emirates, a Bahraini interior ministry source told AFP.
The five's seizure was reminiscent of the detention by Iran of 15 British Royal Navy personnel in the Gulf in 2007.
In that incident, eight sailors and seven marines were captured on March 23. Britain insisted they were in Iraqi territorial waters, while Tehran said they were in Iranian waters.
During the 13 days they were held, the 14 men and one woman were not mistreated but they were paraded on Iranian television, sparking anger from Britain and other Western governments. - AFP/yb/ms
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