15 British marines who were held captive in Iran for several days have returned to London. The marines were released on Thursday morning by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They will be taken for medical examinations and questioning by British officials before they reunite with their families.

Ahmadinejad has claimed that the sailors were trespassing on Iranian waters, and originally demanded an official British apology as a precondition for their release. On Wednesday he gave awards to the Iranian soldiers involved in taking the marines captive, but then announced that the marines would be released as “a gift to the British people.”