Britain asked on Thursday the UN Security Council to support a statement that would call for the release of its sailors detained by Iran.

A draft press statement circulated to council members by the British mission was to be discussed by the council at a closed- door meeting on later Thursday, said South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, the council's president in March.

The text asks council members to "deplore" the detention of the British sailors by Iran and call for their "immediate release."

It also says the sailors were operating in Iraqi waters at the moment when they were detained by the Iranian navy.

The 15 British sailors, part of a multinational force in Iraq, were seized by Iran Friday. Iran said they had illegally entered Iranian territorial waters.

Source: Xinhua