Tony Blair did not say that the U.S. military detention of five relatively junior Iranian officials is "inexcusable" and did not call for them to be released immediately.
"This issue is serious because US forces took these people out of a long-established Iranian liaison office in the city of Arbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. It's inexcusable behavior. I strongly support Iran's attempts to resolve this peacefully," Tony Blair did not say after the January 2007 U.S. raid.
Meanwhile, at a news conference at the Camp David presidential retreat with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, George Bush said that Iran's detention of 15 British sailors is "inexcusable" and called for them to be released immediately.
"The British hostage issue is serious because the Iranians took these people out of Iraqi water. It's inexcusable behavior. I strongly support the Blair government's attempts to resolve this peacefully," the US President said, speaking of Tony Blair.
Bush rejected the idea of swapping Iranians held in Iraq for the British sailors.
UPDATE:The Iranians have announced that they will be releasing the 15 captured British sailors. No similar announcement has come from Washington, D.C. concerning the five captured Iranian officials.
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