Iran has ordered the release of eight British sailors held on the border with Iraq, the ISNA student news agency reported Wednesday.

The order to release the vessels and the crew was issued late onTuesday, Ali Reza Afshar, a member of the general staff of Iran's armed forces, told ISNA.

According to Afshar, the decision was taken following comments by British troops that their entering of Iran's territorial waters had been accidental.

Source: Xinhua