Iran's foreign minister said Britain must admit that its 15 sailors and marines entered Iranian waters in order to resolve a standoff over their capture.
Manouchehr Mottaki's statement came on a day of escalating tensions yesterday, highlighted by an Iranian video of the detained Britons that showed the only woman captive saying her group had "trespassed" in Iranian waters.
Faye Turney
Britain angrily denounced the video as unacceptable and froze most dealings with Iran. The Iranian official also backed off a prediction that the female sailor, Faye Turney, could be freed today, but said Tehran agreed to allow British officials to meet with the detainees.
Mr Mottaki said that if the alleged entry into Iranian waters was a mistake "this can be solved. But they have to show that it was a mistake. That will help us to end this issue."
"Admitting the mistake will facilitate a solution to the problem," he said last night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he was attending an Arab summit.
It was the first time that Iran has publicly suggested a way to resolve the crisis, but British acquiescence appeared unlikely as the country has been insisting since the crisis began that its troops were in Iraqi waters and released a GPS readout yesterday to back up the claim.
Britain's military said the readout proved the Royal Navy personnel were seized 1.7 nautical miles inside Iraqi waters. But in the interview, Mr Mottaki said Iran had GPS devices from the British boats that showed they were in Iranian territory.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair's government announced it was freezing all dealings with Iran except to negotiate the release of its personnel, adding to a public exchange of sharp comments that helped fuel a spike in world oil prices.
At the United Nations in New York, Britain asked the Security Council to support a call for the immediate release of detainees, saying in a statement they were operating in Iraqi waters under a mandate from the Security Council and at the request of Iraq, according to council diplomats. The issue was expected to be debated today.
Earlier yesterday, a brief video of the captured Britons was shown on Iran's Arabic language satellite television station, Al-Alam. One segment showed sailors and marines sitting in an Iranian boat in open waters immediately after their capture.
The video also displayed what appeared to be a handwritten letter from Turney (26) to her family. "I have written a letter to the Iranian people to apologise for us entering their waters," it said. The letter also asks Ms Turney's parents in Britain to look after her 3-year-old daughter, Molly, and her husband, Adam. The video showed Turney in a head scarf and her uniform eating with other sailors and marines.
Later, wearing a white tunic and black head scarf, she sat in a room before floral curtains and smoked a cigarette. Turney was the only detainee to be shown speaking, giving her name and saying she had been in the navy for nine years.
"Obviously we trespassed into their waters," Turney said at one point, her voice audible under a simultaneous Arabic translation. "They were very friendly and very hospitable, very thoughtful, nice people. They explained to us why we've been arrested. There was no harm, no aggression."
In backing away from predictions that Turney could be freed today, Mr Mottaki said in the interview that Iran will look into releasing her "as soon as possible."
AP