Mr. Blair repeated his assertions that Britain had exchanged nothing in return for the detainees’ freedom.
They were released, he said, “without any deal, without any negotiation, without any side agreement of any nature whatsoever.”
Speaking as the Royal Navy crew arrived back at Heathrow, Mr Blair said he rejoiced at their return. But it had to be tempered with the "ugly reality" of the deaths of four British soldiers in Iraq, killed by "a terrorist act" in Basra. The Ministry of Defence confirmed on Thursday that four soldiers had been killed in a roadside bomb blast and a fifth was seriously injured. Mr Blair said it was "far too early" to point to any Iranian involvement in that particular attack. But he added: "The general picture, as I have said before, is there are elements at least of the Iranian regime that are backing, financing, arming terrorism in Iraq."
Meanwhile, Norm Geras has got the goods on the engufling, mandible-straining blowjob the Guardian performs on Ahmadinejad.