Iran held onto 15 British sailors for the fifth straight day today with no indication of where they were or when they might be released
The stalemate prompted some of the toughest talk yet from British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who warned of a "different phase" in the showdown.
Iran said the 15 sailors and marines it captured on Friday are doing well, but the British government, reacting to continued uncertainty over Iran's intentions in holding them, began to express exasperation over the situation.
"If indeed they are ... being detained in reasonable circumstances, then we can see no reason why they should not have contact with British authorities," said Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, speaking to reporters in Turkey.
"I think it is in everyone's interest for this matter speedily and peacefully to be resolved."
Mr Blair was more forceful, suggesting in an interview that Britain was preparing to win their release by means other than diplomacy.
"I hope we manage to get them (the Iranian government) to realise they have to release them," he said. "If not, then this will move into a different phase."
Asked what that meant, Blair refused to elaborate, saying only, "we will just have to see, but what they should understand is we cannot have a situation where our servicemen and women are seized when actually they are in Iraqi waters under a UN mandate."
A Blair spokesman later mollified the comment, saying the prime minister was not hinting at military conflict or the expulsion of Iranian diplomats from Britain. "We don't want to escalate this," the spokesman said.
Iranian military vessels surrounded and then captured 14 British servicemen and one servicewoman in the Shatt al-Arab waterway between Iraq and Iran, whose border lines there have long been disputed.
Iran insists the sailors were in Iranian waters and has accused them of "aggression" into Iranian territory.
Britain, however, says the 15 were in Iraqi waters on routine anti-smuggling duty when they were captured, which the Iraqi prime minister has seconded.