Families' relief as Iran frees British navymen

Two Scots were among the eight sailors and Royal Marine commandos detained on Monday after their boats strayed into Iranian territory on the Iran-Iraq border

Iran at first said it would prosecute the servicemen for illegally entering its territory

Naval boats and equipment will be released, contrary to earlier reports

Final release follows a day of conflicting reports on the servicemen’s status

Freedom secured after intense negotiations, with Iran apparently accepting the men had strayed by mistake

THE families of the British servicemen who were detained by Iranian troops this week, sparking a tense diplomatic stand-off, spoke yesterday of their joy following the men’s release.

Two Scots Royal Marines, Tam Harkins, 36, and David Reid, 24, were among eight British servicemen, six of them commandos, detained on Monday after their boats strayed into the Iranian side of the Shatt al-Arab waterway on the Iran-Iraq border.

The men were paraded blindfolded on Iranian television during their ordeal, causing widespread outrage in Britain and further heightening diplomatic tensions.

Talks between Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, and his Iranian counterpart, Kamal Kharrazi, eased the situation and, after three days of tense negotiations, the men were freed yesterday.

When they heard the news, the families of the two Scots spoke of their delight that the men were finally in the care of British diplomats and on their way to Tehran, the Iranian capital.

Mr Reid’s father, Graham, 49, from Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, said he was "absolutely delighted" to be told his son had been freed.

He said: "It’s the news we’ve been waiting for. There were some dark moments over the last few days, especially when we saw them on TV, blindfolded, but this is brilliant.

"Hopefully we’ll see him either late tonight or early tomorrow. I can’t wait to just see him and give him a hug. He must have been scared but he’s strong, both physically and mentally.

"I don’t think he’ll quit. He loves his job as a marine too much."

An emotional Mr Reid told how his son sent a message to his parents via a British diplomat, in which he said he reassured them.

Mr Reid said: "David’s message said: ‘I’m fine and dandy. I love you.’ He only went last Saturday so it was a big shock when we heard they had been held."

Paula Harkins, 32, Sergeant Harkins’ wife, also recalled her emotions as she saw reports on television, first about her husband’s capture and then that he had been freed.

She said: "We were all just totally devastated. The shock and worry has just been unbelievable. It’s been agonising. When we saw the pictures of them walking along blindfolded, that was very disturbing."

She said that she feared for her husband’s safety when she saw harrowing images of him bound and gagged during interrogation by the Iranians.

Mrs Harkins, who lives at Hamworthy in Dorset, said: "I’m ecstatic. I watched it on the television and they said they had been released but I waited for the official phone call that they were in the hands of British officials, which came through at 8:45am.

"I’m still waiting to hear what will happen to him next. First of all he will be given a full medical and a full debriefing. He might even return to duty because if his health is fine they might want him to continue working, and he is trained for it after all. It’s probably just a bad day at the office for him. But I just hope they let him come home soon, otherwise he’s due to come home on 15 July.

"It was devastating, particularly when they showed them over and over, dehydrated, exhausted-looking.

"I was one of the lucky ones because my husband was allowed to say a message to me, but I could hear the emotion in his voice.

"I didn’t want to be too dramatic about it all because he wasn’t being held by al-Qaeda or Iraq, but it was the whole unknown quantity of it all that worried me. It didn’t make sense that they had them blindfolded if they were just arrested and pending prosecution."

The men are understood to come from two Scotland-based units - Arbroath-based 45 Commando and the Fleet Standby Rifle Troop from Faslane on the Clyde - and from the 539 Assault Squadron in Plymouth, south-west England.

The eight were held in the remote south-western town of Bandar Mahshahr, where they were visited by British diplomats on Wednesday.

The Foreign Office said that three British diplomats went from Tehran to Abadan, a port on the Shatt al-Arab about 60 miles west of Mah Shahr, to receive the eight servicemen.

The diplomatic scandal came against a background of already strained relations after Britain adopted a tougher line on Iran’s controversial nuclear programme last week amid fears that it could be a cover for developing nuclear weapons.

But the Iranian authorities decided that they did not want to escalate the dispute further and accepted that the men were on a routine mission when they strayed off course.

A Foreign Office spokesman last night said the men had left the British Embassy in the Iranian capital for the airport. The men were expected to fly to their bases in Iraq.

Despite reports that Iran would keep the troops’ three boats, Iranian officials also announced they would release the vessels and the troops’ equipment.

Britain and Iran had given conflicting reports on Wednesday of the captives’ status, with Iran saying they had been freed and the British Foreign Office rebutting that claim.

Iran had initially said it would prosecute the British servicemen for illegally entering Iranian territory.

Concern in Britain ran high after Iran’s Arabic-language al-Alam TV channel showed the sailors blindfolded and sitting cross-legged on the ground.

However, they were released following immense international pressure after Iranian officials appeared reassured the men had made a mistake and strayed into Iranian territory.