New Delhi: Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad beamed as he shook hands with the British sailors. 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 in what Ahmadinejad called an Easter gift.
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.
Hours later, the 15 Britons arrived at the VIP section of Tehran's airport in a convoy of sedans and were expected to board a British Airways flight to London.
The naval personnel were detained since March 23. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made the announcement on Wednesday.
Ahmedinejad awarded medals to the commanders who captured British naval personnel in the Gulf.
The President also repeated allegations that they had invaded Iranian territorial waters.
Meanwhile Britain continues to say that the 15 sailors were working under a UN mandate.
However, the British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed "profound relief" over the peaceful end to the 13-day 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 15 released British sailors will be handed over to the British embassy on Thursday and head for London," the top aide to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi said on Wednesday.
"The British sailors are at the moment at the foreign ministry,” he had added.
(With agency inputs)
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