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Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday the way was open for diplomatic efforts to secure the release of 15 British sailors and marines seized by Iran, and the next 48 hours would be critical.

The two countries have been at loggerheads since Iran seized the sailors on March 23 in the northern Gulf, but there have been few tangible signs of progress in the 12-day stand off.

Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said on Monday he believed bilateral diplomacy could resolve the crisis quickly. Britain responded by saying it too would like early talks to end the row.

"We're not looking for confrontation over this and actually the most important thing is to get the people back safe and sound. And if they want to resolve this in a diplomatic way the door is open," Blair told a radio station in Scotland.

"The next 48 hours will be fairly critical," he said.

Oil prices tumbled more than a dollar after Blair's comments on hopes there may be a diplomatic end to the crisis that has stoked fears crucial oil supplies from the Gulf could be hit.

The dispute centers on where the sailors were when they were seized. Britain insists they were in Iraqi waters on a routine UN mission, but Teheran says they were in its territory.

"We can definitely see a diplomatic solution on the horizon," said Ali Ansari, director of the Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.

"It's seems to me that what is in the offing is a delegation of some sort will go to Teheran, to basically reassure the Iranians that there will be a mechanism in place to ensure that this will not happen again," he said.

Experts in international borders say territorial sea boundaries between Iran and Iraq are poorly defined, which may give Britain and Iran room to "agree to disagree".

British moves to get the international community to condemn Iran had angered Teheran while Britain has criticized the parading of its military personnel on Iranian television, saying the broadcasted admissions of guilt had been forced.

Iran said Tuesday the row could be resolved soon if London continued its "changed behavior" and accepted its sailors and marines had entered Iran illegally.

Larijani left the door open for discussion about whether the sailors had strayed into Iranian waters by saying a "delegation" should be sent to clarify the issue once and for all.

US President George W. Bush said Iran's position was indefensible and there should be no prerequisites for the British sailors' release.

(China Daily via agencies April 4, 2007)