| The release of eight British sailors has been postponed at least until Thursday, Iranian state television reported Wednesday, contradicting reports that the men were already freed. There was no immediate clarification. Hours earlier, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told The Associated Press the eight Britons had been released. Iran’s Arabic-language TV channel Al-Alam broadcast an urgent evening report that said: "The second round of talks on the British detainees is postponed until tomorrow, Thursday." The station had earlier reported that the sailors’ release could be delayed to Thursday. It said British and Iranian officials had been negotiating in the southwest Iranian town of Mahshahr near the place where the Britons were detained. In London, the British Foreign Office said it had not been told officially that the release had been delayed to Thursday. A British diplomat said, however, that a delay was possible because it was already nighttime in Iran. |