TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian diplomat in Iraq seized two months ago by uniformed gunmen has been released, Iran reported today, while in Baghdad a senior foreign ministry official said his government was "intensively" seeking the release of five Iranians detained there by the U.S.

The developments came as British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the next two days would be "fairly critical" to resolving the dispute over a British navy crew seized by Iran.

The Iraqi official also said Iraq had exerted pressure on those holding the Iranian diplomat, Jalal Sharafi, who was released Monday and returned to Tehran today. The official would not say who had custody of the diplomat.

Sharafi was seized on Feb. 4 when his car was intercepted by vehicles carrying armed men in the Karradah district of Baghdad.

Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency confirmed Sharafi's release but gave no indication of the circumstances surrounding his Feb. 4 disappearance or his release.

In January, the U.S. military seized five Iranians in a raid in northern Iraq, accusing them of links to an Iranian Revolutionary Guard faction that funds and arms insurgents and militias in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the chief Iranian negotiator, Ali Larijani, told Britain's Channel 4 news Monday through an interpreter that Iranian officials "definitely believe that this issue (the Navy dispute) can be resolved and there is no need for any trial."

HONIARA, Solomon Islands — Some of the thousands left homeless by a tsunami ventured back into the devastated Solomon Islands town of Gizo today, picking their way through the ruins of stores in search of food and water.But most were still too scared to leave the hillside where they have camped out since a powerful undersea earthquake sent waves up to 30 feet high crashing into several of the South Pacific islands.At least 28 people in the Solomons died in the tsunami and quake, measured at a magnitude of 8.1 by the U.S. Geological Survey. Officials said the total was likely to rise.