Iran, UK talks on detained sailors to resume today

Talks between British and Iranian delegates negotiating the release of eight British servicemen held in Iran ended on Wednesday night, with ...

Talks between British and Iranian delegates negotiating the release of eight British servicemen held in Iran ended on Wednesday night, with diplomats saying negotiations would resume on Thursday.

A British diplomat said he had visited the six Royal Marines and two naval personnel. ‘‘They were fit, well and well-treated,’’ he said, adding that he took messages from them to their families.

‘‘Negotiations began between the Iranian political, diplomatic delegation and a team from the British consulate in Iran after their arrival in the city of Mahshahr in Khuzestan,’’ Iran’s Al Alam satellite channel reported.

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The channel showed pictures of the eight detainees blindfolded and walking in single file on a beach next to what appeared to be the Shatt al-Arab waterway. ‘‘I offer my apologies to my family and the British government and the Iranian people for making this mistake,’’ said one of the men.

The six marines and two sailors were detained on Monday, after their boats strayed into the Islamic Republic’s territorial waters.

A British military source said the men may have strayed into Iranian waters in bad weather in confined straits. Britain’s Ministry of Defence said the men were only carrying their personal weapons.

The official IRNA news agency quoted a source as saying an inquiry had found the men had entered Iranian waters by mistake and without hostile intent.

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