Brits Can Sell Stories

The 15 sailors and marines who were freed on Wednesday described on their return how they had been stripped, blindfolded and handcuffed during their detention.

Royal Marine Joe Tindell, 21, said some of them thought they were about to be executed at one point, and how he, blindfolded with hands bound, had believed one of their number had had his throat cut.

This version of events belied the images shown on Iranian television of some of the group apparently relaxed and joking during their captivity.

But Ali Akbar Javanfekr, a spokesman for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said that the suggestion of mistreatment was "a lie."

"We envisioned that the 15 sailors would be subjected to pressure by British security and intelligence forces," he said. "For that reason, President Ahmadinejad asked Prime Minister Tony Blair not to put pressure on the sailors for having told the truth, but (he) did not hear this humanitarian appeal."

Sailors can sell stories

As the diplomatic waves from the incident continued to break, Britain's Ministry of Defense announced that, in a highly unusual step, the captives would be allowed to sell their stories to the media.

Serving personnel were not normally allowed to sell their stories but the ministry decided to grant the 15 permission due to the huge media interest, said a ministry spokeswoman.

"These are considered to be exceptional circumstances," she said.

The standoff over the 15 made daily headlines in Britain and around the world. Several of the sailors and marines, particularly the only woman among them, Faye Turney, became well known after they were shown on Iranian television.

"The Iranians will think we're totally mad"

But the move was immediately criticized by Colonel Bob Stewart, a former senior British army commander, who claimed it would play into Iran's hands.

"It's just unprecedented," the Colonel, a former commander of British peacekeeping forces in Bosnia, told BBC television. Iran's seizure of the 15 was "hardly one of the most glorious annals of royal naval history."

Asked what he thought Tehran would make of it, he said: "I think they'll think we're totally mad ... and they will probably think: 'I'm glad we got rid of them because they're self-destructing without us having to do anything."

Nick Harvey, defense spokesman for the opposition Liberal Democrats, said the decision would "raise eyebrows."

"I sincerely hope this will not backfire into a loss of public sympathy for the service personnel. The ministry would be well advised to take a fresh look at the rules and consider whether they need revising," he said in a statement.

The Sunday Times reported that the group could make up to 250,000 pounds (370,963 euros, $496,312) between them and that Leading Seaman Faye Turney, the only woman in the group, could net 150,000 pounds.

Iran wants payback from Britain

Meanwhile, Rasoul Movahedian, Tehran's ambassador to London -- who was repeatedly summoned to talks with British officials during the stand-off -- suggested to The Financial Times Saturday that the regime wanted a payback for releasing the group.

Tehran wants London's help in getting five Iranians held in Iraq by United States forces released and easing international fears about its controversial nuclear program, he indicated.

"We played our part and we showed our good will," he told the business daily. "Now it is up to the British government to proceed in a positive way."

However he denied to the paper that the group's liberation was linked to the case of the Iranians detained in Iraq or the release Monday in Baghdad of an Iranian diplomat kidnapped at gunpoint in Iraq in February.

Blair has also insisted there were no side deals done to secure the release but said on Thursday that diplomatic negotiations had created new lines of communication between Britain and Iran.

Iran wanted to capitalize on this new dialogue to help "defuse tensions in the region," Mohavhedian said.

Pope had called for release of captives

The eight Royal Navy sailors and seven Royal Marines were seized as they carried out what they said were routine anti-smuggling operations near the Shatt al-Arab waterway which divides Iraq and Iran on March 23.

Tehran alleged they had illegally entered Iranian waters, claims the Britons vehemently denied on Friday, despite apparently admitting doing so during their detention in Iran.

A British naval inquiry has been set up to establish how they came to be detained amid widespread praise in the media for their decision not to fight back against the Iranians' superior firepower

Several newspapers assessed that had they done so, they could have sparked an accidental conflict.

Meanwhile, the Vatican said Pope Benedict XVI had written to Iran's spiritual leader but did not confirm a report in The Guardian that the letter was sent hours before Wednesday's announcement of the group's release.

According to the newspaper, the pontiff urged Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to do all he could to ensure their return home for Easter in what would be taken as a "significant religious gesture of goodwill from the Iranian people."