Clinch Over Sailors

Beckett told reporters on Saturday, following an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Germany, that Britain had replied by diplomatic note to Iran over the issue.

Iranian authorities have begun legal proceedings against Britain's seized naval personnel and they will be punished if found guilty, Iran's ambassador to Moscow said in comments distributed earlier Saturday, though he later denied having made reference to a trial.

"It's not the first person to make saber-rattling comments," said Beckett. "I don't think it's helpful," she added.

A diplomatic note from Iran to British authorities released Friday condemned the "illegal act" by British naval staff in the Gulf but did not call for an apology.

Beckett said: "I think everyone regrets that this position has arisen. What we want is a way out of it, we want it peacefully and we want it as soon as possible. We would like to be told where our personnel are; we would like to be given access to them; but we want it resolved," Beckett added.

She said, however, she feared the current holiday period in Iran might delay the diplomatic proceedings.

Iran remains steadfast

Iran has so far refused to bow to mounting international pressure to release the naval personnel, who are being held in a secret location and are occasionally shown on television allegedly confessing to having entered Iranian waters.

Britain insists they were in Iraqi waters when they were seized.

Beckett said there had been contact with the Iranian side but gave no details.

"I'm sure that at some point our ambassador will have been in contact," she said, stressing Britain's willingness "to engage in dialogue and discussion".

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the post EU-meeting press conference that he had hoped a solution would have come from British-Iran contacts overnight Friday.

"We did hope that something might have happened during the night on the basis of bilateral relations between the United Kingdom and Iran but it did not happen," he said.

Steinmeier added that a solution must be found "before the sailors and marines are sentenced, because that is what could happen to them," he said.

Iranian ambassador denies comments

However, the Iranian ambassador reported to have made the comments, Gholam Reza Ansari, told Iran's state news agency IRNA that he was misquoted by Russian television when he said Tehran might put them on trial.

"The network has made a mistake in translating the comments about detained British personnel and has reported the possibility of their trial," he said, referring to an interview he had given on Friday to Vesti-24 television.

Iran on Saturday again warned Britain against politicizing the seizure of its 15 navy personnel, saying it could complicate efforts to resolve the escalating crisis.