15 British sailors were taken to captivity by the Iranian Coast Guard from a cargo ship, which they had boarded to check presence of any smuggled goods, on the 23rd of March 2007. President of Iran Ahmadinejad, after detaining them for almost 12 days announced their release on 5th April 2007.

The surprise announcement of release of British sailors has come as a shock and surprise to the International community. Almost all the families of concerned British soldiers were rejoicing after getting the news of release of their loved ones.

The reason why the sailors had been captured, according to Ahmadinejad was that the sailors were violating Iranian waters. The Iranian also mentioned that there was a letter mentioning that there would be no such instances in future from the British. Some of the people believe that the release might have been because of the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeni.

Ahmadinejad announced the relase of the sailors at the end of a press conference. In the press conference, he congratulated the coast-guard of Iran for doing their duties diligently, he has also promised a medal to the commander of the coast guard, who arrested the British sailors aboard the cargo ship.

In the press conference, he announced the release of 15 British sailors towards the end of it thus surprising all the media persons present. Since the British sailors were questioned by the Iranian government, Iranian President also requested the British Government to pardon any information that the sailors might have given away during their questioning.

The Iranian President also said that the release of 15 British sailors was a gesture of goodwill; it was a gift by Iranian people to the British people. The British sailors were overheard thanking the Iranian President ‘Grateful for forgiveness’, ‘Thank you and Iranian people’, ‘You were very kind to us’, etc.

There were several countries involved for the release of the British sailors, Syria was one of them, it carried out diplomacy quietly between Iran and Britain. The Iranian President also mentioned that the capturing of British soldiers was not related to capture of Iranian in Iraq by the U.S

At home in Britain, after the news of release reached families of the sailors there was a lot of rejoicing for the release of the loved ones. There is a party going on and waiting for the sailors to return. However, the sailors will not be allowed to meet their families instantly. They will have to undergo physical test initially, then there will be a debriefing of all of them only then they would be going home. Some family members are however waiting to see the sailors in person only then the party would begin.

All the family members agreed in unison that the Royal Navy kept them informed on each new development that took place after the capture of the 15 sailors of the British Navy. The families will have to wait to actually see them till they the debriefing finishes.