TEHRAN, June 23: The release of eight British Royal Navy personnel detained by Iran's hardline Revolutionary Guards Corps has been delayed until at least Thursday for further negotiations on the modalities of the handover, a British diplomat said.

"We have been in discussions all afternoon and evening. There is an agreement that the soldiers will be handed back, but we still have to discuss how it will happen," British embassy spokesman Andrew Dunn said.

"There is a natural break in the talks. We will take it forward tomorrow (Thursday)," he said from southwestern Iran where the men have been held since Monday and where the talks were taking place.

The diplomat declined to say if he was confident that the release would definitely go ahead on Thursday, only saying: "We are making progress, and we hope that continues."

The Iranian government had promised that the six marines and two sailors, arrested after their three patrol boats strayed into Iranian waters on the border with British-occupied southern Iraq, would see an end to their humiliating ordeal on Wednesday. -AFP