The freed sailors and marines arrived at Heathrow airport on a British Airways flight at 12.03 p.m. local time (11.03 a.m. GMT). They were then transferred to two military helicopters to fly to the Chivenor military base in Devon, 200 miles southwest of London, for a private meeting with their families.
Iran's hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, announced the release of the 15 Royal Navy personnel in a surprise move late Wednesday, following a diplomatic standoff that his country and Britain had been engaged in since the crew's detention in the Persian Gulf March 23.
Ahmadinejad announced the Britons' release after just two days of talks, saying it was not a result of a deal, but that they had been pardoned by the Iranian leadership in a gesture of good will.
