"The issue of the British boats is solvable," Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani told the student news agency.

"Those wrongdoers who do not have a hostile attitude should be dealt with in a way that corresponds with Iranian dignity."

Iran on Tuesday turned down British appeals for the team of Royal Marines and sailors to be freed immediately, saying it had to establish first why they had crossed into Iranian territorial waters on the southern border with Iraq.

WAR.WIRE