LONDON — A diplomatic standoff between Britain and Iran over the capture last week of 15 British sailors and marines threatened to escalate Tuesday as an intense new round of diplomacy failed to end the crisis.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned that his government was prepared to move to "a different phase" if Iran did not quickly release the 14 men and one woman being held since Friday for allegedly entering Iranian waters.
But in Tehran, officials suggested that a speedy resolution could be difficult.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Hosseini said British consular officials in Tehran would get access to the detainees only after a preliminary investigation determined whether the troops had entered Iranian territory on purpose or by mistake.
In Guard's hands
One ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Britons were being held by conservative elements of the Revolutionary Guard, a parallel military organization born of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, and were outside the normal channels of government. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is put aside and the case is only in the hands of the Revolutionary Guard," he said.
A Western diplomat said ministry officials did not know the exact whereabouts of the detainees.
A group of conservative students held a mock trial of the 15 sailors and marines Tuesday in the southern border town of Shalamcheh and, amid chants denouncing Britain, the U.S. and Israel, called on the government to put the "aggressors" on trial.
Mohammed Javad Ali Akbari, one of Iran's vice presidents, attended the event, according to the ISNA news service.
"Why on Earth should we forgive the British transgressors," said Rafat Bayat, a hard-line member of Iran's parliament. "Can anybody believe that the British naval forces got lost?"
In London, officials continued to insist that their troops had been in Iraqi waters. "There is absolutely no justification for holding" the personnel, Blair said. "I hope we manage to get [the Iranians] to realize that they have to release them. If not, then this will move into a different phase."
Blair did not define what he meant, but a government spokesman who requested anonymity said the British leader was not referring to military action or an expulsion of diplomats. He said British officials were considering moving from quiet diplomacy to a more public confrontation, such as releasing evidence they believe proves that the two small British patrol boats captured in the Persian Gulf were operating in Iraqi waters.
