HOWZAT

“We all at one time or another made a conscious decision to make a controlled release of non-operational information. We were kept in isolation until the last few nights, when we were allowed to gather for a few hours together, in the full glare of Iranian media.

“On day 12 we were taken to a governmental complex blindfolded and then given three piece suits to wear. We watched the president’s statement live on TV, and it was only then that we realised we were to be sent home. It goes without saying that there was a huge moment of elation.

"We were made to line up to meet the president, one at a time. My advice to everyone was not to mess this up now - we all wanted to get home.”

Captain Air said: “We are aware that many people have questioned why we allowed ourselves to be taken in the first place and why we allowed ourselves to be shown by the Iranian authorities on television.

“Let me be absolutely clear, from the outset it was very apparent that fighting back was simply not an option. Had we chosen to do so then many of us would not be standing here today. Of that I have no doubts.

“The Iranian Navy did not turn up lightly armed; they came with intent, heavy weapons, and very quickly surrounded us. We were equipped, armed and had rules of engagement for boarding operations within Iraqi water. We were not prepared to fight a heavily armed force who it is our impression came out deliberately into Iraqi waters to take us prisoner.”

The sailors' and Marine's press conference at Royal Marine Base Chivenor, near Barnstaple, came a few hours after the head of the Royal Navy came to the defence of the sailors and Marines.

The First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, said that he believed they had behaved with “considerable dignity and a lot of courage” during their time in Iranian hands. He said that “confessions” made by some of the group - including Leading Seaman Turney - appeared to have been made under “a certain amount of psychological pressure“.

Admiral Band also confirmed that the Navy had suspended all boarding operations in the northern Gulf while it carried out a “complete review” of the incident which led to them being seized.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Admiral Band strongly rejected criticisms that the sailors and marines surrendered too easily to the Iranians and were too eager to co-operate with their captors.

“I would not agree at all that it was not our finest hour. I think our people have reacted extremely well in some very difficult circumstances,” he said.

While he said that the decision to carry out the operation to board and search a merchant ship which led to their seizure had been “absolutely proper“, he said there would be a “complete review” of the incident.

“Clearly, whenever things go wrong - and certainly this is not an incident we at all wanted - we will review everything that we normally do,” he said.

“Was the intelligence correct? We will look at the equipment, we will look at the procedures, we will look at all the things that happened. We certainly wouldn’t want this to happen again.”

Admiral Band confirmed that the review would also look at the rules of engagement for UK forces operating in the area, but he rejected suggestions that the crews could have fought back against their captors.

“It is quite clear to me, in the context of the operation that morning, with the force that was shown against them, they made exactly the right decision. I stand by what they did,” he said.

“This was not open combat. This was not an attack on a street. This was doing absolutely legal boarding operations in a legal part of the world where they were illegally acted upon.<

“When you are in that situation as servicemen, you have a situation in front of you, you have rules of engagement, and then you have to make a judgment with respect to the danger of your life of what you do.

“From what we think we know - and obviously this will be confirmed in the debriefing - I think they acted extremely sensibly.”

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