The detainees "behaved both honorably and rationally" in the

face of "grotesque treatment," Britain's Guardian newspaper said.

In their first public statement since their release, the sailors

Friday told how they were stripped, blindfolded and handcuffed as part of "psychological" intimidation during their detention.

Royal Marine Joe Tindell, 21, told how, blindfolded and their

hands bound, the group at one point thought they were about to be executed and that he believed one had had his throat cut.

The eight Royal Navy sailors and seven Royal Marines were seized as they carried out what they said were routine anti-smuggling operations near the Shatt al-Arab waterway that divides Iraq and Iran on March 23. Tehran alleged they had entered Iranian waters.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday he was releasing the 15 as a "gift" to the British people. They returned to Britain on Thursday and have since been debriefed and medically assessed.

Iran wants "positive" response from Britain

As the 14 men and one woman began two weeks' compassionate leave with their families, Tehran's ambassador to London said in an interview published Saturday that Britain should respond in kind to his country's actions.

Rasoul Movahedian told The Financial Times that Tehran wanted London's help in releasing five Iranians held in Iraq by US forces and on easing international fears about its controversial nuclear program.

"We played our part and we showed our good will," he told the

business daily. "Now it is up to the British government to proceed in a positive way."

He denied Ahmadinejad's announcement was linked to the case of the Iranians detained in Iraq or the release Monday in Baghdad of an Iranian diplomat kidnapped at gunpoint in Iraq in February.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has also insisted there were

no "side" deals done to secure the 15's release but said the

behind-the-scenes diplomatic negotiations had created new lines of communication between Britain and Iran.

Movahedian said Iran wanted to capitalize on this new dialogue.

"If they (the British) want to be helpful and use their influence we will welcome that. We will welcome in general any steps that could defuse tensions in the region," he added.

Sailors speak of intimidation, pressure in Iran

Meanwhile, a British naval inquiry has been set up to establish

how the 15 naval personnel came to be detained. The sailors' accounts of psychological and emotional torture dominated Saturday's press and media.

"We had a blindfold and plastic cuffs, hands behind our backs,

heads against the wall. Basically there were weapons cocking,"

Tindell told BBC News 24 television. "Someone, I'm not sure who, someone said, I quote, 'lads, lads, I think we're going to get executed'. After that comment someone was sick and as far as I was concerned he had just had his throat cut."

The coverage was mixed with that of four British troops, two of

them women, killed in southern Iraq on Thursday, which tempered homecoming celebrations.

Newspapers praised the sailors for the way they handled the

situation, including not fighting back against the Iranians' superior firepower.

A "suicidal firefight" when outgunned "might have started World War III", The Sun tabloid said.

And a senior Iranian source close to the Revolutionary Guards told The Guardian: "If this had been between Iranian and American soldiers it could have been the beginning of an accidental war."

The Guardian quoted unnamed sources as saying that Britain declined a US offer to mount aggressive air patrols over the

Revolutionary Guards.

Elsewhere, Ahmadinejad was chided for mounting a propaganda exercise while a number of newspapers said Blair's unpopular decision to invade Iraq had exposed the sailors to such risks in the first place.