TEHRAN, 30 March 2007 — Iran yesterday demanded an apology from Britain over the “illegal entry” of British Navy personnel into its waters and defended its decision not to release a woman sailor. “The logical solution to resolving this affair is for the British authorities to accept the reality, present their apologies to the great Iranian people,” Gen. Alireza Afshar, spokesman for the head of the country’s armed forces, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency.

He said Britain also needed to “admit the truth and make a commitment not to violate our waters again.” Iran has defied international calls to release the sailors and yesterday said it would not free the only woman being held as it had promised, blaming Britain for overreacting to their detention.

The 15 were captured on Friday in the northern Gulf in what Iran insists were its territorial waters but Britain says they were picked up while on a routine patrol in Iraqi waters. “The decision to free the woman sailor was taken in accordance with Islamic and human values ... but the British chose to threaten and intimidate us instead of appreciating this humanitarian move,” Afshar said.

“The propaganda and psychological warfare by those in London put her release in jeopardy.” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini also condemned what he said was European interference in the affair. “European officials had better advise British leaders to abandon their colonial attitude, avoid propaganda and recognize the right of nations to defend their territory,” he said.

“The interference of irrelevant parties interference does not help resolve the issue.” Earlier yesterday, the French Foreign Ministry called in Iran’s ambassador to Paris to convey its “deep concern” over the detention of the 15, while EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana described it as “unacceptable.”

Britain has sought international help to isolate Iran. Britain is seeking approval from the UN Security Council for a statement deploring the detention of the sailors and government sources said Britain would discuss practical measures at a EU foreign ministers’ meeting this weekend.

Prime Minister Tony Blair’s official spokesman said Britain was not seeking a confrontation with Iran and wanted the standoff resolved as quickly as possible. Analysts said they suspected Iran wanted the diplomatic wrangle to take the international focus away from its nuclear energy program, which the West fears is ultimately designed to produce atomic weapons.

“The motive is more about distracting international attention from the nuclear sanctions,” said Alex Bigham at the Foreign Policy Center think tank in London. “The British government is right to reinforce Iran’s isolation on this, to use the governments of Turkey and Iraq as allies.”

Britain has halted all official travel between the UK and Iran and suspended visa issuing and support for trade missions. Western partners have not taken specific actions but leaders in Washington and the European Union voiced strong support. “We have widened the net of arguing our case. First of all we’ve brought in the EU. Today we’re doing so at the UN,” Blair’s spokesman said.

In Brussels, the European Union’s foreign policy chief urged Iran to free the captives, saying the standoff is blocking efforts to improve relations between Tehran and Europe. “What Iran has to do is to liberate immediately all the soldiers,” Javier Solana told reporters. “We want to have good relations with Iran, and this does not help.”

Meanwhile, the United States and key allies are pressing the UN nuclear monitoring agency to find Iran in violation of commitments linked to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty over Tehran’s refusal to allow remote monitoring of its underground uranium enrichment plant, diplomats said in Vienna yesterday. The International Atomic Energy Agency has itself increased the pressure on Tehran, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because their information was confidential.

The diplomats, who are accredited or otherwise linked to the agency, told The Associated Press that a senior IAEA official had recently told the Iranians to respond positively to an agency request for additional cameras at the Natanz enrichment site within the end of this week.