Iran says waiting for new UK stance on captivesBron :
Reuters
A television grab from Iranian TV shows footage taken around the time 15 British sailors and marines were captured March 30, 2007. Iran said it was waiting for Britain to change its behavior over the detention of 15 British sailors and marines, state television reported on Sunday. REUTERS/Al Alam TelevisionTEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said it was waiting for Britain to change its behavior over the detention of 15 British sailors and marines, state television reported on Sunday.
Iran captured the 15 Britons on March 23, accusing them of illegally entering the Islamic Republic's territorial waters. Britain says the sailors were seized in Iraqi waters.
The row, coming at a time of heightened Middle East tensions over Tehran's disputed nuclear program, pushed oil prices last week to six month highs.
"Iran is waiting for a change of behavior by Britain and a balanced stance by this country over our legal demands," state television quoted Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki as saying.
He did not give the demands but Iranian officials have said Britain should acknowledge its troops illegally entered Iran. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech on Saturday that Britain should have apologized.
Mottaki said Iran was studying a written message sent by British Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett that replied to an earlier Iranian diplomatic note on the detentions.
"There are many points in this note that we will look into," the Iranian foreign minister said.
President Bush said on Saturday that Iran's detention of British personnel was inexcusable and called on Tehran to release them immediately.
Iran said it was a provocative act but Britain denied any aggressive action and said the shooting on Thursday came from a British convoy that was ambushed in the same street.
Mottaki said Iran was studying a written message sent by British Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett that replied to an earlier Iranian diplomatic note on the detentions.
"EXPLORING DIALOGUE"
"There are many points in this note that we will look into," the Iranian foreign minister said.
British Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander said London was "exploring the potential for dialogue with the Iranians" but gave no details.
British forces have been deployed in southern Iraq since joining the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2003. Britain and the United States accuse Iran of allowing sophisticated weapons used to target their forces to be brought into Iraq.
On Saturday, President Bush called on Tehran to release the 15 immediately.
"The Iranians must give back the hostages. They're innocent," Bush told a news conference
Using the term "hostages" evokes the drama shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution when Iranian students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans for 444 days. Washington broke relations as a result and they have never been restored.
The United States has sent two carriers to the Gulf but said they are not there to provoke a conflict with Iran.
Merkel reiterated the EU's support for Britain, according to the text of a speech delivered in Jerusalem.
"I repeat here that Britain has the full solidarity of the European Union in this matter. We demand the prompt release of the 15 soldiers," she was quoted as saying.
The calls follow a U.N. Security Council statement last week expressing "grave concern" and calling "for an early resolution of this problem, including the release of the 15 personnel".
Iran has urged the EU to stay out of the case and accused Britain of stirring up the crisis by raising the issue of the detentions at the United Nations, which has passed two sanctions resolutions on Iran since December over its nuclear program.