April 07, 2007	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 18, 1428

LONDON, April 6: The British service personnel released recently from Iranian captivity on Friday told a crowded press conference televised worldwide, all that the British public had wanted to hear from them.

There were no new revelations, no regrets, no nothing. It was the usual black and white story of good guys braving their way out of the clutches of bad guys.

In a statement read out by two of their number at a Royal Marines base in Devon, the eight sailors and seven Marines defended their decision to surrender to their Iranian ambushers without a fight.

“Let me be absolutely clear from the outset: fighting back was not an option,” said Marine Captain Chris Air.

Today's press conference was given by six of the group and did not feature Leading Seaman Faye Turney, the only woman in the group.

Her colleagues told how they were kept blindfolded in solitary confinement in small stone cells and told during nightly interrogations that they faced seven years in prison if they did not admit that they had strayed into Iranian waters.

But although they denied reports that their Iranian captors had staged mock executions, they said that at times they had feared for their lives as they had heard guns being cocked behind them.

The personnel were subjected to “constant psychological pressure” during their time in captivity and agreed to comply with their captors wishes in order to win their freedom.

Earlier the head of the Royal Navy strongly defended the conduct of the personnel during their 13 days in captivity.

Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, The First Sea Lord, said that he believed they had behaved with “considerable dignity and a lot of courage” during their time in Iranian hands.

He said that “confessions” made by some of the group -- including the only woman, Leading Seaman Faye Turney -- appeared to have been made under “a certain amount of psychological pressure”.

Admiral Band also confirmed that the Navy had suspended all boarding operations in the northern Gulf while it carried out a “complete review” of the incident which led to them being seized.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Admiral Band strongly rejected criticisms that the sailors and Marines surrendered too easily to the Iranians and were too eager to co-operate with their captors.

As the 15 continued their debriefing by senior officers at the Royal Marines Base at Chivenor, north Devon, said accusations they “surrendered first and apologised later” were “extremely unfair”.

“I would not agree at all that it was not our finest hour. I think our people have reacted extremely well in some very difficult circumstances,” he said.