TEHRAN, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Five British sailors detained by Iran after straying into its territorial waters were towed to freedom Wednesday after being released by Revolutionary Guards.
A British Foreign Office spokesman said the yachtsmen and their vessel, the Kingdom of Bahrain, were being towed by Iranian ships into international waters in the Persian Gulf, where they would be met by boats from the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club, The Times of London reported.
Iranian state radio announced the sailors' release Wednesday, six days after they were picked up near the Iranian island of Sirri, where they were held.
"We reached the conclusion that they (the sailors) entered Iran's territorial waters by mistake," the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement broadcast on Iran's state-run radio.
A Bahrain radio official who employs one of the sailors confirmed the crew and yacht were heading to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, their original destination.
The release of the sailors came hours after British Foreign Secretary David Miliband had discussions with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
"I think this is just a straightforward matter: it's not a significant matter; it's not a political matter; I don't believe that there's any wider significance," Miliband said. "It shows that diplomacy can work."
The sailors have been identified as Luke Porter, 21, of Weston-super-Mare; Oliver Smith, 31, of Southampton; Oliver Young, 21, of Cornwall; Sam Usher, 26, of Scarborough, North Yorkshire; and Bahrain-based David Bloomer.
