Ahmadinejad's reaction: 'Their release is a gift to Britain'

On releasing the sailors

"On the occasion of the birth anniversary of the great Prophet of Islam, and on the occasion of Easter and Passover, I would like to announce that the great nation of Iran, while it is entitled to put the British military personnel on trial, has pardoned these 15 sailors and gives their release to the people of Britain as a gift... "I would like Mr Blair's government not to punish the sailors for acknowledging the truth... After this meeting they are free. They can go to the airport and they can go to their families...

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"I ask Mr Blair instead of occupying the other countries, I ask Mr Blair to think about the justice - to think about the truth and work for the British people not for himself... Unfortunately, the British Government was not even brave to tell their people - to tell them the truth - and tell them that [there] was a mistake... Everyone should know that the great Iranian nation has defended its rights and land with full authority and power...

"Nothing specifically has been done by the United Kingdom. The UK Government has sent a note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and in that letter they mentioned that the incident would not be repeated. Of course, that decision that we are going to release the 15 British sailors is not related to that letter, and it was a present from the Iranian people to the British people ...

"Why should the most cumbersome missions... be assigned to a mother, why does the western civilisation not care for family values?...

"We are very upset that the British people... [went] to [war] and thousands of kilometres far away from their country, fighting somewhere which is not legal..."

On why it took so long

"Unfortunately, Mr Blair's administration took the ploy and started hues and cries about the issue and took the case to the UN Security Council. We did not intend to produce continued conflicts out of the issue. Releasing the sailors was procrastinated because the British Government acted badly..."

On the Revolutionary Guardsmen who captured the sailors

"At this moment I wanted to say on behalf of the Iranian people - I wanted to thank the people who... arrested [them], I'm... admiring the commander who managed to capture these people who came to our water. I wanted to thank him for his braveness..."

On re-establishing relations with the US

"[America] thought that if they cut the ties, our nation would have to go under much pressure, but this did not come true...

"With the present kind of attitude shown by the US, no world nation is willing to establish ties with the US... But if they revise their behaviour, there is a possibility for making revisions on our side."