But Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and chief negotiator Ali Larijani struck what seemed to be a new, authoritative tone, saying in a British television interview that "there is no need for a trial", a course Tehran had threatened. "This issue should be solved bilaterally," he said.
Larijani set conditions for solving the dispute, however. He said the exact whereabouts of the Britons when they were captured should be clarified and renewed Iran's insistence that they were in its waters when they were seized.
"We are not living in the Stone Age," he said. "The G.P.S. has clearly pinpointed their presence," he said, referring to the global positioning system.
"Definitely our priority is to solve the problem through proper diplomatic channels," he said, speaking through a simultaneous interpreter in a live interview from Tehran with Channel 4 News in Britain. "We are not interested in having this issue get further complicated."
He added, "We definitely believe that this issue can be resolved. And there is no need for any trial."
In addition, Iran pledged not to broadcast additional video images of the British captives, while Iranian state television cited, apparently with approval, what it called a shift in Britain's attitude in the dispute.
The British Foreign Office responded with a conciliatory gesture of its own. A British official, speaking anonymously because of the delicacy of the diplomatic exchanges between London and Tehran, said Britain might be open to discussions about preventing maritime disputes.
However, the official said, such talks could not be a condition for the release of the captives.
"Our priority is to get them out," the official said. "Anything else, talking about avoiding this in the future, might be helpful at some point. But it could not be part and parcel of seeking to release these people."
The dispute is in its 11th day, and the latest diplomatic signals have emerged, coincidentally, as Britain and Argentina separately observe the 25th anniversary of Argentina's invasion of the Falkland Islands.
The occasion has inspired comparisons between British caution in the current dispute and the seeming gung-ho decisiveness of Margaret Thatcher, who, as prime minister, turned the humiliation of the Falklands occupation into a military triumph woven into her legacy as the Iron Lady.
The British government is now being challenged by some critics, though not by the official parliamentary opposition, to act more forcefully. Blair, who is preparing to leave office in a few months, is eager to prevent his legacy from being stained by the humiliation of British sailors and marines being paraded on Iranian television and making what have been depicted as admissions of guilt.
For many in the West, the issue is whether British authority has been weakened by acting as a junior partner to the United States, drawing fire as the weaker ally least likely to respond to Iran.
Britain is still pressing for the unconditional release of the seven marines and eight sailors, four of whom made statements acknowledging that they had strayed into Iranian waters. All of them are sound and healthy.
On Monday, Iranian television broadcast pictures of other British captives who did not speak. Instead, according to Reuters, a commentary accompanying the images stated, "It seems that Britain has shifted a little bit from its stance in the last one or two days over the undeniable facts and from some of its clamor."
"If this path continues, one can hope that the issue would be resolved in a bilateral process and far away from fuss and clamor and with achieving Iran's logical demands," the commentary said.
|
