The United States on Wednesday denied any linkage between the granting of consular access to five Iranians held in Iraq, and the release of 15 British sailors detained in Iran.

"There is no link whatsoever. Neither we nor the British nor anyone else, as far as I know, has made that link," State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.

"It would be pure speculation on my part to try and ascribe motive to any of this stuff. I simply don't know and I don't think anyone does short of the Iranians," he said.

U.S. troops arrested five Iranians in Erbil, Iraq on Jan. 11. On March 23, 15 British naval personnel were seized by Iranian forces when they were patrolling off the Iraqi borders.

Iran, which insisted that the British boats illegally entered its territorial waters, released the British soldiers Wednesday as "a gift to the British people" when Easter Day season comes.

Source: Xinhua