Iran Ups the Rhetoric on Seized Sailors

Commodore Nick Lambert, commander of the Royal Navy frigate HMS Cornwall, speaks aboard his ship Friday March 23, 2007in this image made from television. Iranian naval vessels seized 15 British sailors from HMS Cornwall, who had boarded a merchant ship in Iraqi waters of the Persian Gulf as part of efforts to protect the Iraqi coastline and its oil terminals, U.S. and British officials Friday March 23, 2007. The British government summoned the Iranian ambassador in London and demanded "the immediate and safe return of our people and equipment." The U.S. Navy, which operates off the Iraqi coast along with British forces, said Iran's Revolutionary Guard naval forces were responsible.(AP Photo/AP Television News) (AP)

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran claimed Saturday that 15 British sailors and marines had confessed to entering its waters in an act of "blatant aggression," an escalation of Tehran's rhetoric over the confrontation.

The British Foreign Office summoned Iran's ambassador for the second time in two days, saying an under-secretary had spent more than an hour in "frank and civil" talks demanding the safe return of the sailors and Royal Marines, and seeking assurances about their welfare and access to British consular officials.

Iran's top military official, Gen. Ali Reza Afshar, said the sailors and marines were moved to Tehran and under interrogation "confessed to illegal entry" and an "aggression into the Islamic Republic of Iran's waters." Afshar did not say what would happen to the sailors.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini accused the British of "violating the sovereign boundaries" of Iran, calling the entry a "blatant aggression."

He accused Britain of trying to cover up the incursion, saying it should "refrain from putting the blame on others."

The U.N. Security Council, meanwhile, unanimously voted to impose new sanctions against Iran for its refusal to stop enriching uranium _ a move intended to show Tehran that defiance over its nuclear program will leave it increasingly isolated.

British opposition lawmakers called on the government not to allow Iran to use the capture of the military personnel as a tool in the nuclear dispute.

"The United Kingdom will not be blackmailed. Iran has a choice: to act responsibly; or face greater isolation," said Menzies Campbell, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats.

But the British government appeared to be avoiding harsh language in its public statements as it continued to gather information about exactly what had happened and why.

The British sailors had just searched a merchant ship Friday morning when they and their two inflatable boats were intercepted by Iranian vessels near the disputed Shatt al-Arab waterway, U.S. and British officials said. The Iranians surrounded them and escorted them away at gunpoint.

Britain immediately demanded the return of the eight Royal Navy sailors and seven Royal Marines _ at least one of who was a woman _ and denied they had strayed into Iranian waters while searching for smugglers off Iraq's coast.

Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett and the Ministry of Defense said the troops were in Iraqi waters when they were seized.