March 29 (Bloomberg) -- Iran's government indicated that it won't release a female U.K. sailor after announcing she would be freed today or tomorrow, and accused Britain of putting pressure on the country.

U.K. pressure stalled the release of Seaman Specialist Faye Turney, Supreme National Security Council chief Ali Larijani said today on state television. British Prime Minister described the move as ``another tactic that the Iranians are using.''

Turney is the only woman among 15 sailors and Royal Marines detained by Iranian forces March 23 in the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which separates Iran and Iraq. Britain denies Iran's claim that its service personnel were operating in Iranian waters.

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

The incident has heightened international tensions over Iran, which is already under United Nations sanctions for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment as part of a nuclear program that Western countries allege is disguising the development of weapons. The U.S. and the U.K. also have accused Iran of supporting attacks in Iraq. The U.K. is pushing the UN Security Council to condemn Iran's continued detention of the Britons.

``It's just another tactic that the Iranians are using,'' Blair told ITV News in an interview. ``I feel a sense of disgust that people are used in that way.''

`Unconditional Release'

Blair said the situation could only be resolved by ``the unconditional release of all our people.''

The Foreign Office in London responded to Larijani's comment on Turney by reiterating the U.K. government's demand that all the detainees be released. ``We are saying that we want all our personnel to be released,'' the department said in a statement. ``We expect them all to be released'' and to have consular access as a prelude to them being freed.

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

Iran said the Britons entered its waters at six different points before they were detained, Agence France-Presse reported, citing the official Islamic Republic News Agency. An Iranian army officer, identified as General Setareh, commander of coastal border controls in the Shatt al-Arab waterway, later appeared on state TV. Setareh used maritime charts and a GPS device, which he said was seized from the Britons, to demonstrate the six violations, AFP said.

Gunshots

Iranian state television broadcast a few seconds of video it said showed the seizure of the Britons, with gunshots heard and a helicopter hovering, the Associated Press said.

Larijani said Iran wants ``the case to progress and get solved through bilateral talks and legal and technical examinations.'' He said he assured regional governments, such as those of Turkey and Iraq, ``that the issue will be followed up by Iran in a positive way and with regard to laws.''

The solution ``is for British authorities to accept the truth, present apologies to the great Iranian people and pledge that such aggression into Iranian waters won't happen anymore,'' state-run Mehr news cited General Alireza Afshar, a spokesman for the head of Iran's armed forces, as saying today.

`Pressure'

Blair told ITV that what Britain ``can't do is end up negotiating over hostages.'' The 15 being held ``were doing their job under a UN mandate,'' said Blair. ``We have to be very patient about this and put the welfare of our people first. However the pressure will be stepped up bit by bit by bit.''

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett on March 28 ordered the Foreign Office to freeze all diplomatic activity with the Islamic Republic, other than that focusing on the detainees, until the dispute is resolved.

Diplomats at the UN in New York are close to the final draft of a statement by the Security Council condemning the Britons' continued detention, a Foreign Office spokesman, who asked not to be identified under British government convention, said in a telephone interview.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, speaking today at an Arab summit in Saudi Arabia, said he will push Iran to release the captives.

`Abduction'

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana told the European Parliament in Brussels today that he met Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki at the Arab summit yesterday and ``made it clear to him, in very clear terms, that the European Union cannot accept the abduction of these 15 British seamen.'' Solana told the European lawmakers today that ``we have to condemn'' the seizure of the Britons.

The seizure of the Britons was ``much like a car jacking,'' U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Affairs, Mark Kimmitt, told Bloomberg Television. The incident was not linked to the dispute over Iran's nuclear aspirations, he said. ``It is part of a large portfolio of unwelcome and unhelpful behavior on the part of the Iranian government that I think the entire world has got some concerns about,'' Kimmitt said.

Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a message to the British Embassy in Tehran today 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.

Tensions

The ministry also plans to deliver a letter to the United Nations protesting at violation of its territorial waters, IRNA said.

Crude oil rose for an eighth day, approaching a six-month high, as the tensions over the detained Britons showed few signs of easing. Crude for May delivery rose 58 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $64.66 a barrel at 11:35 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures ended yesterday's session at $64.08 a barrel, the highest close since Sept. 11. Oil last rose eight days in June. Prices are down 2.7 percent from a year ago.

Brent crude oil for May settlement rose $1.10, or 1.7 percent, to $66.88 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures exchange. Futures touched $69 a barrel on March 27, the highest intraday price since Sept. 4.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ladane Nasseri in Tehran at lnasseri@bloomberg.netNick Allen in London at nallen14@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 29, 2007 14:28 EDT