Iran's refusal to free 15 British sailors and marines seized in contested Persian Gulf waters is the country's way of telling the world that it cannot be pushed around - even with new international sanctions over its nuclear program.

The crisis, which began unfolding on Friday when the British service members were taken captive, also shows that Iran has ways of creating problems for the West - especially in Iraq - if the US and its allies make trouble for Teheran.

On Sunday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair raised the stakes in the standoff, insisting that the British were in Iraqi - not Iranian - waters and warning that Britain viewed their situation as "very serious."

"I want to get it resolved in as easy and diplomatic a way as possible," Blair said at a European summit in Berlin, adding that he hoped the Iranians "understood how fundamental an issue this is for the British government."

"This is a very serious situation," Blair said.

But Iran appeared equally resolute, suggesting the group may be put on trial for allegedly violating its waters when they boarded a merchant ship to search for smugglers at the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway.

The UN Security Council on Saturday voted unanimously to impose additional and tougher sanctions against Iran over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.

At the same time, Iran is under pressure from the US and Britain over allegations that Teheran is arming Shi'ite militias in Iraq. US authorities are holding at least five Iranians, identified as part of an elite Revolutionary Guard unit, who were arrested in January in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil on suspicion of funneling weapons to Iraqi factions.

On Thursday, one day before the Britons were seized, the US military announced the arrest of the purported leader of the pro-Iranian wing of the Mahdi Army militia in Iraq for his alleged role in the January 20 sneak attack that killed five American soldiers in Karbala.

Ali Askari, former head of an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guard, disappeared in Turkey six weeks ago, and Iranian media have speculated that he was kidnapped by the Americans.

No swap

That has led to speculation in the Middle East that Teheran may offer to exchange the British sailors and marines for Iranians and Iranian agents held by the Americans in Iraq.

But yesterday Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Mehzi Mostafavi said Iran was not aiming to swap the 15 British sailors for the five Iranians arrested in northern Iraq.

In comments read out by a newscaster, Mostafavi did not say what Iran plans to do with the British sailors, but he said they were being interrogated.

"It should become clear whether their entry (into Iran) was intentional or unintentional. After that is clarified, the necessary decision will be made," Mostafavi said.

He rejected British claims that the sailors were in Iraqi waters when the Iranian navy seized them on Friday.

Meanwhile, a senior Iranian foreign ministry official has told Britain's envoy to Teheran at a meeting yesterday that the sailors and marines are "fit and well and in Iran", a British Foreign Office official said.

"The ambassador pressed hard for details of where the detainees were being held, for consular access to them and what plans the Iranians had for their release," the official said.

In response the Iranian official "assured him the group were fit and well and in Iran. He gave no further details at this stage but confirmed they were working to resolve this issue as soon as possible," the British official said.

Source: China Daily/agencies