Iranian military officer General Alireza Afshar said on Saturday that the 15 British sailors who were detained by Iran's forces when they were patrolling off the Iraqi border Friday, have "confessed their mistakes of illegally entering Iranian waters", local Fars news agency reported.

"Right now they are being interrogated, and they have confessed the illegal entry of territorial waters of the Islamic republic," Afshar was quoted as saying.

According to the state-run television, Afshar said Iran had "solid evidence" that the sailors were detained in Iranian waters, adding "they themselves have admitted the mistake."

The British authorities have confirmed that 15 British naval personnel were seized Friday by Iranian forces when they were patrolling off the Iraqi borders.

The incident took place when the British soldiers were engaged in routine boarding operations of merchant shipping in Iraqi territorial waters in support of UN Security Council Resolution 1723 and the government of Iraq, said British and U.S. officials.

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett insisted the soldier were operating in Iraqi waters, summoned the Iranian ambassador in London and requested Tehran to return the detainees.

However, Iranian foreign ministry summoned British charge d' affairs Kate Smith to the foreign ministry to receive the firm protest for the actions and up to now showed no sign of a swift release of the sailors.

According to the latest report of Iranian media, the detainees have been transferred to the capital of Tehran for further investigations.

Source: Xinhua