British officials expected an angry rant when they heard that Iran's hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was going to give a news conference yesterday about the 15 British sailors and marines detained two weeks ago in the Persian Gulf.
Instead, the Iranian leader pledged to release the 14 men and one woman -- ending a crisis that may lead Tehran to claim a short-term victory but also pay a long-term price, according to Iran experts and Western and Iranian officials.
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