UNITED KINGDOM / IN AIR: Fifteen British sailors and marines captured by Iran arrive back in Britain, changing into military uniform on flight

The 15 British military personnel freed by Iran after a two-week diplomatic stand-off arrived back in England on Thursday (April 5) to cheers and to questions about the incident and its implications. As flight BA6634 from Tehran touched down at London's Heathrow Airport at 12:02 p.m. (1102 GMT), the group burst into applause. The group disembarked and posed for pictures before transferring to two waiting military helicopters to be flown to a base at Chivenor in Devon, 200 miles (300 km) southwest of London, for a private reunion with their families and a debriefing. The peaceful end to the stand-off, which began when Iran seized the 15 in the northern Gulf on March 23, prompted a drop in oil prices from recent highs. After the flight left from Tehran, Iranian television showed images of the group wearing civilian clothing and clutching colourful gift bags. During the flight they changed into military uniform. The aircraft's business class section was cleared for the sole use of the former captives and those accompanying them. Even before they had touched down, the post-mortem began on what closed-door deals might have been struck and just what it meant for future relations between Iran and the West. 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 an attempt to soften the former Iranian Revolutionary Guard's vehemently anti-Western image abroad. OY/AD

ITN Source | April 6, 2007

Tags:. .private. .military. .enough. .drop. .peaceful