Bush blasts Iran over capture

Washington: US President George W Bush has described Iran’s behaviour over the capture of 15 British sailors as “inexcusable”.

He also demanded that Iran should give back the sailors without any concessions being made.

But Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accused the British of being arrogant over their handling of the diplomatic crisis.

Speaking at Camp David, President Bush said the matter was serious because the British sailors were in Iraqi waters at the time of their arrest.

He added: "It is inexcusable behaviour. I strongly support the Blair government's attempts to resolve this peacefully.

"I support the prime minister when he made it clear there were no quid pro quos. The Iranians must give back the hostages."

The 15 sailors and marines – including one woman – were arrested on March 23 after stopping and searching a ship in the Gulf.

Iran claims that the sailors were 500m into Iraninan waters, but the UK says that satellite data shows that they were 1.7km inside Iraqi waters when they were taken.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has also said the “arrogant” British government was not following "the legal and logical way" over the case.

"After the arrest of these people, the British government, instead of apologising and expressing regret started to claim that we are in their debt," he said.