U.S. to Give Iran Access to 5 Detainees

In this picture provided by the Ministry of Defence Arthur Batchelor is being greeted by a family member after being reunited at the Royal Marines Barracks in Chivenor, Devon, England, Thursday April 5, 2007. A Royal Navy crew broke into applause after landing on British soil Thursday, basking in relief shared by a nation after their release from 13 days of captivity in Iran. (AP Photo/ MoD, Chris Wenham) (Chris Wenham - AP)

"This is clearly a regime that, after several decades, continues to view hostage-taking as a tool of its international diplomacy," McCormack told reporters.

Johndroe said President Bush spoke with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in a lengthy video conference Thursday and told Blair he was pleased the 15 had returned home. Bush is at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

The U.S. military has said the five Iranians were part of a Revolutionary Guard force that provides money, weapons and training to Shiite militias in Iraq. Iran says the detainees were engaged exclusively in consular work.

Gates said he has asked his military commanders to review their procedures to make sure that U.S. sailors are protected against a similar attempt at capture, and that U.S. ships are operating "well within the baselines, just like the British were."

In other comments, Gates said that he is expecting that U.S. commanders in Iraq will give him an assessment by late summer on how the military buildup is working. Close to 30,000 additional U.S. troops are being sent to Iraq to quell the violence in Baghdad and give the government time to stabilize. About half have arrived, according to the military.

Faced with increasing pressure from Congress to reduce troop levels in Iraq, Gates said it is too soon to tell when that can happen.

"I think people don't know right now how long this will last," he said. "I believe that the thinking of those involved in the process was that it would be a period of months, not a period of years or a year and a half."

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Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Ben Feller in Crawford, Texas, contributed to this report.