LONDON (AFX) - Britain is in 'direct bilateral communication' with Iran over the detention of 15 British naval personnel, Defence Secretary Des Browne told BBC television.
Asked to elaborate on the comments, a Foreign Office spokeswoman told AFP that there had been contacts between Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett and Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
She also reiterated that Britain has replied to a letter from the Iranian embassy in London, which asks the British government to acknowledge that the sailors had trespassed and confirm that it would not happen again.
In an interview conducted in Afghanistan, Browne said there was 'no reason' for Iran to continue to hold the group.
'We are anxious that this matter be resolved as quickly as possible and that it be resolved by diplomatic means and we are bending every single effort to that,' he said.
'It's not my intention to go through the detail of that blow-by-blow and it wouldn't be appropriate to do that, but we are in direct bilateral communication with the Iranians and they know that not only are we in a very clear position but that we have the support of almost all of the international community.
'The message from the UN, the message from the European Union ought to make it clear to them that their responsibility is to release our detained personnel.'
He did not give further details of the contacts.
Browne's comments came as tension over the detention last month of the British naval personnel in the northern Gulf escalates.
In Tehran, Islamist students on Sunday were throwing rocks and firecrackers at the British embassy, while hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described Britain as 'arrogant' over the crisis.
'The arrogant issue statements and issue demands against the Iranian people, instead of apologising and expressing regret over the British sailors entering Iranian waters,' he was quoted by the state news agency IRNA as saying.
A further twist came when Iranian media reported that Iran has formally protested at what it called a 'British shootout' around its consulate in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra on Thursday.
The British military denied any such incident occurred, saying its soldiers had come under fire during a routine patrol near the consulate but did not leave their vehicles.
Tehran has so far refused to bow to pressure to release the British sailors, who are being held in a secret location and occasionally paraded on state television allegedly confessing and apologising.
Britain insists they were on a routine anti-smuggling patrol in Iraqi waters under a UN mandate, but the Islamic republic says they had strayed into Iranian territorial waters.
US President George W. Bush called Iran's seizure of the 15 Britons inexcusable and demanded the release of the 'hostages'.
On Friday the European Union foreign ministers deplored the detention of the Britons as a breach of international law and threatened to take 'appropriate measures' if they were not freed soon. newsdesk@afxnews.com afp/wj COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited