Iran: Captured UK sailor calls for troops out of Iraq

Story Highlights

• NEW: Iranian government sends confidential note to British Embassy
• Security Council statement urges quick release of UK troops
• Second letter allegedly from female sailor criticizes British policy in Iraq
• Iran: British sailors crossed into Iranian waters six times

Adjust font size:

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- The U.N. Security Council has expressed concern for 15 British marines and sailors being held in Iran and appealed for the early release of the detainees.

The U.N. statement, which fell short of a full condemnation sought by the British government, came as Iran released what it said was a second letter from captured British sailor Faye Turney in which she criticizes British policy in Iraq.

Iranian state television meanwhile broadcast five seconds of footage that it said was of the operation that seized the 15 British sailors and marines in Iranian territorial waters last week.

"Isn't it time for us to start withdrawing our forces from Iraq and let them determine their own future?" said the letter, addressed to the British Parliament and released to media organizations by the Iranian embassy in London, England.

It was the second letter in two days said to be from Turney, 26, who has also been shown on Iranian television. The first asked her parents to look after her husband and young daughter. (Watch Turney say what happened when she was captured )

On Friday, Turkey's government said it had spokes with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, who suggested Tehran was willing to reconsider an offer to release Turney, The Associated Press reported.

According to AP, Iran's official Arabic-language TV channel Al-Alam said Friday it would broadcast footage of a confession by one of the 15 detained British sailors.

In footage aired Thursday said to be of the capture operation, gunshots could be heard on the tape and a helicopter was shown above inflatable boats in choppy seas.

Iranian guard boats were seen cruising around while a couple of Iranian guardsmen shot into the air.

Then the video showed some of the British troops -- including Turney -- seated in a boat with an Iranian flag, presumably after their capture.

An Iranian military official also appeared on state television giving a briefing about the incident, indicating on a map where he said it happened. (Watch the war of words build )

The demonstration looked similar to a Wednesday briefing on the incident by British Vice Admiral Charles Style, who released a map of the Shatt al-Arab purporting to show the coordinates of the British boat when it was captured, along with pictures of handheld GPS devices showing the location. (Watch Iran's use of maps to show British 'trespassing' )

Britain's Ministry of Defense said its position remained unchanged by the Iranian footage, AP reported.

Release delayed

Earlier Thursday, Iran said the British personnel entered its waters six times before they were arrested.

Officials also announced that the promised release of Turney was suspended because of Britain's "behavior" in the matter.

"The wrong behavior of those who live in London caused the suspension," Iranian military commander Alireza Afshar said, according to the Mehr news agency.

Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Council, warned that Britain's tough stance in the matter was causing a delay in the release of Turney. (Watch what Iran says is holding up the release of British personnel )

On Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki had said Turney would be released "very soon."

Larijani said Tehran would like to resolve the issue through bilateral discussions and an investigation of legal and technical issues, and again asserted that the British patrol boats entered Iranian waters illegally.

In London on Thursday, the British Foreign Ministry said the Iranian government had sent a formal note to the British Embassy in Tehran.

"Such exchanges are always confidential, so we cannot divulge any details," a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said. "But we're giving the message serious consideration and will soon respond formally to the Iranian government."

A spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that Britain just wanted a solution.

"We do not want a confrontation over this. We want this resolved as quickly as possible," the spokesman told reporters.

Also Thursday, Britain's ambassador to Iran lodged an official complaint about the showing of the British detainees on Iranian television, the Foreign Office said.

One video showed Turney wearing a black scarf covering her hair, "admitting" that she and her crew had gone into Iranian waters. (Full story)

Security Council issues careful statement

Meanwhile, after huddling for several hours, members of the U.N. Security Council agreed Thursday on a press statement expressing "grave concern at the captures and continued detentions" of the sailors and marines. It was read to reporters by current council President Dumisani Kumalo of South Africa.

Britain had sought a far stronger statement.

The statement appeals to Iran to allow consular access to the British personnel and appeals for their early release.

The hours of negotiation, Kumalo said, were necessary because members wanted a statement that was "very factual ... no political twisting of anything that happened."

Earlier, Ghana's ambassador and other diplomats told CNN some nations were questioning in whose waters the British personnel were and were reluctant to issue a demand.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with Mottaki on the sidelines of the Arab League summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Thursday to talk about the situation.

Ban "expressed his wish to see an early resolution of this problem," a spokesman for the secretary-general said at the United Nations.

On Wednesday, British Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett announced that London was freezing all bilateral government business with Iran until the 15 Britons were freed.

The dispute has sparked anti-British protests in Iran, raised Middle East tensions -- already high over concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions -- and sent shock waves through the oil market. (Watch why tensions with Iran are affecting global markets )

In Tehran, Iranian protesters in front of the Foreign Ministry chanted and held banners demanding the British sailors and marines be put on trial, The Associated Press reported. One banner called for the Britons to be executed.

Thursday marked the sixth day Tehran has refused Britain consular access to the detained sailors and marines.

They were arrested March 23 as they conducted anti-smuggling patrols near the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab, at the northern end of the Persian Gulf.

The waterway has long been the site of tensions between Iraq and Iran, which both claim it as their territory.

CNN's Shirzad Bozorgmehr contributed to this report