A top Iranian official warned on Tuesday that the sailors detention issue would not be resolved in the near future if the British government continues to make "hue and cry", the Iranian semi-official Fars news agency reported. The country's First Vice President Parviz Dawoodi made the remarks on the sidelines of the inauguration of the back up systems of Bushehr nuclear power plant when answering questions from various reporters.

"It (solution of the case) depends on Britain's attitude. If they accept that they have trespassed on our borders and guarantee that they will not repeat such aggressions, the issue will be solved through a logical trend. But if Britain continues making hue and cry, the issue will not be solved in the near future," Dawoodi was quoted as saying by Fars.

He further dismissed recent allegations that Tehran intends to swap the British marines with the Iranian diplomats arrested in Iraq, saying "a country has violated our laws and it must account for its actions. These issues should be solved within their separate frameworks."

On March 23, 15 British naval personnel were seized by Iranian forces when they were patrolling off the Iraqi borders.

Iran has insisted that the British boats illegally entered its territorial waters. But Britain said its soldiers were in Iraqi territorial waters.

Iran's tension with Britain has escalated dramatically since Tehran aired footage of the detained sailors for three times and a furious protest was staged Sunday outside British embassy in Tehran by the Islamist students.

However, after a 12-day standoff, some conciliatory tones have surfaced from both sides in the past 24 hours, raising hopes of resolving the crisis soon.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on Monday said Iran's priority is to resolve the problem through proper diplomatic channels, and "there's no need to have a trial on the detained sailors".

The British government responded later Monday by saying "we confirm we share his (Larijani) preference for early bilateral discussions to find a diplomatic solution to this problem".

Source: Xinhua