Iranians, Brits Move Toward Talks

Iran is ready to negotiate freeing its 15 British captives, according to the country's top diplomat. In a cryptic TV interview, Ali Larijani suggested the marines and sailors could be released if the Brits apologized and stopped putting international pressure on Tehran. "We are not interested in the issue getting more complicated," he said.

The British Foreign Office, too, says they're ready to broker a release, backing away from insistence on arbitration. But they won't admit wrongly entering Iranian waters, and still want an independent investigation of the capture. Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton took the opportunity to blast the Brits as "weak" and "passive," setting a poor examples of "European resolve."' (More Iran stories.)