Released British navy crew leaves Iran on London-bound flight

Fifteen British sailors and marines released by Iran after nearly two weeks in captivity flew out of a Tehran airport Thursday aboard a commercial flight bound for London, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.

The 15, whose release was announced Wednesday by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, left on a British Airways flight from Tehran's Mehrabad International Airport at about 8:30 a.m. local time (0500 GMT), 30 minutes behind schedule.

They had arrived at the airport in a convoy of sedans that drove directly to the presidential VIP section of the airport, the AP reporter said.

The convoy was escorted by several cars belonging to the elite Revolutionary Guards.