Iran's Foreign Ministry on Sunday summoned the British ambassador in Tehran to protest British sailors' "illegal entry" into its waters, state television reported.

The Foreign Ministry summoned British ambassador Geoffrey Adams to protest "the illegal entry of British sailors into Iranian territorial waters," the report said, without elaborating on further details about the meeting.

On Friday, Iran had already summoned British charge d'affaires Kate Smith on this matter. It demanded the British government ensure "not to do this again" in the future.

According to BBC's report, British requests for access to 15 Royal Navy personnel held by Iran have been denied and in a meeting in Tehran between Iranian government officials and the UK ambassador, Iran also failed to say where these people were being held.

Adams on Sunday asked to know the whereabouts of the personnel and for consular access, but this was not forthcoming, BBC said.

A British diplomat told BBC that the Iranians replied they would get back to the embassy on those issues.

The British authorities have confirmed that the 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.

However, Iranian military officer General Alireza Afshar said on Saturday that the 15 British sailors have "confessed their mistakes of illegally entering Iranian waters", local Fars news agency reported.

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

Source: Xinhua