March 30 (Bloomberg) -- The United Nations Security Council said Iran should release 15 U.K. sailors seized in the Persian Gulf and called for an ``early'' settlement to the dispute.

Council members want ``an early resolution to this problem, including the release of the 15 U.K. personnel'' and have grave concerns over the incident, Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo of South Africa, which holds the body's rotating presidency, said in a statement issued yesterday in New York.

Iran should allow U.K. consular access to the naval personnel who were detained a week ago. Iran and the U.K. dispute whether they were detained while operating in Iranian or Iraqi territorial waters.

The incident heightened international tensions over Iran, which is under UN sanctions for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment for a nuclear program that Western countries allege is being used to develop weapons. The U.S. and the U.K. also accuse Iran of supporting attacks in Iraq.

The Security Council's statement replaced a stronger draft proposed by the U.K. ``deploring'' Iran's actions, the Associated Press reported, citing unidentified diplomats at the UN. Russia led calls for the wording to be changed, objecting to the Council taking the British position that its vessels were operating in Iraqi waters, AP cited the diplomats as saying.

The U.K. has said the British crew's two boats were 1.7 nautical miles (3.1 kilometers) inside Iraqi waters in the Shatt al-Arab waterway at the time of the seizure. Iran says the vessels were half a kilometer inside its territorial waters.

Iranian Message

Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a message to the British Embassy in Tehran yesterday telling the U.K. not to violate its waters again, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. The message ``cautions the London government of the consequences of such violations,'' IRNA said. The letter didn't call for an apology, and asked that U.K. officials reassure Iranian counterparts that British forces won't trespass into their waters, Sky News television reported today.

``We are giving the message serious consideration and will respond formally to the Iranian government,'' a spokeswoman for the U.K. Foreign Office said in a telephone interview, reading from a statement. The Foreign Office didn't give details of the contents of the letter.

A second letter attributed to Leading Seaman Faye Turney, the only female among the detainees, was released by Iran yesterday. The letter said the crew were in Iranian waters, and suggested it is time for U.K. forces to leave Iraq, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported.

`Outrageous'

U.K. Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said the ``blatant attempt'' to use Turney for ``propaganda'' was ``outrageous,'' in a statement read over the phone by a spokeswoman.

Oil prices rose from a six-month high as the standoff continued. Crude oil for May delivery increased as much as 68 cents, or 1 percent, to $66.71 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 3 percent yesterday, the highest closing price since Sept. 8.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made no headway in persuading Iran to free the Britons during a meeting yesterday in Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh, with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, according to an aide to Ban.

Ban ``expressed his wish to see an early resolution'' to the stand-off. He also told Mottaki that Iran should comply with Security Council resolutions demanding an end to the enrichment program, the UN said on its Web site. Iran says it is pursuing an atomic program to meet domestic electricity demand.

Release of Detainees

Iran yesterday accused the U.K. of putting pressure on its government, saying that may delay Turney's release, something it said previously would happen soon. The U.K. responded by demanding that all its personnel are freed.

The British ``resorted to creating tumult and clamor and putting pressure on Iran, but this will bring them no result,'' Supreme National Security Council chief Ali Larijani said on state television yesterday. ``If the British go along this path, the case for freeing the British female sailor will run into problems.''

The issue can be resolved only by the ``unconditional release of all our people,'' U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair told ITV News in an interview yesterday.

Javier Solana, the European Union's foreign policy chief, said he met Mottaki at the Arab summit in Riyadh two days ago and made clear the EU ``cannot accept the abduction of these 15 British seamen.''

Iran rejects interference by European officials, IRNA reported, citing an unidentified Foreign Ministry official. The issue is a matter between Iran and the U.K., the spokesman said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Janine Zacharia in Washington at jzacharia@bloomberg.net; Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 30, 2007 03:44 EDT