Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi late Wednesday confirmed that the promised release of the eight detained British marines would be postponed to Thursday. 

Kharazi made the confirmation following an earlier report from the state television that the promised release may be postponed as the negotiation between Iran and Britain lingers continues.

Kharazi previously said that the detained marines would be freed later on Wednesday because the investigation determined they had no aggressive intention, but the order of release has not been carried out so far because of the suspended question on the way of handover.

Until night of Wednesday, the two sides had been discussing whether the released marines should be sent back to their camp in Iraq directly across the Shatt al-Arab waterway, where they were detained, or be handed over to the British embassy in Tehran. Another prominent issue is about the equipments, and it seems that Iran will not return the three boats and equipment aboard to Britain.

Some earlier reports said that the 8 marines had been freed from custody and were waiting to be handed over, which, however, has not been proved so far.

Iran on Monday seized three British naval boats and eight marines aboard in the Shatt al-Arab waterway, saying they had entered Iranian territorial waters without permit.

Earlier on Tuesday, Iran's state news channel reported that the Islamic Republic was to prosecute the detained British soldiers, but an Iranian Armed Forces officer said that the decision would not be made until the investigation clarified their intention of intrusion.

The incident came shortly after Britain, along with France and Germany, accused Iran of being less than fully cooperative with the International Atomic Energy Agency on the inspection of its nuclear program.

(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2004)