LONDON, June 24 (UPI) -- The Foreign Office confirmed Thursday Iran released eight British sailors seized Monday for entering Iranian territorial waters.
A Foreign Office spokesman told UPI the eight Royal Navy sailors were handed over to British diplomats based in Iran.
The spokesman noted the government did not decide yet whether "to repatriate the sailors or return them back to Iraq," noting that London is dealing with the issue "step by step."
Iran announced Wednesday it would release the British crews seized aboard three speedboats in Shatt al-Arab waterway near the Iraq-Iran border Monday. They had entered territorial waters by mistake.
Iran earlier said that it will be trying the British sailors on charges of entering Iran's territorial waters illegally, but it later decided to free them after contacts between British Foreign Minister Jack Straw and his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharrazi.
