A top Iranian official said on Thursday that Tehran would not release a female British sailor detained with 14 male colleagues as previously reported, citing London's "incorrect attitude."

The announcement by the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Larijani came a day after London said Wednesday it was freezing ties with Tehran over the crisis.

Iran had said on Wednesday that Faye Turney, the only woman among the 15 sailors captured inside Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf on Friday, could be released within a day or two.

He said the grounds were in fact ready for the release of the woman sailor unless Britain exhibited the wrong attitude over the matter.

"It surprises us that the British government kicked up a media storm by announcing a freeze in relations with Tehran, and said they might take up the matter to the Security Council instead of sending a team of experts to examine the problem," he said, adding, "That will not resolve the problem. They have miscalculated."

Larijani said Iran wanted the issue solved through diplomacy and bilateral talks, but cautioned that Britain's response could jeopardize that path.

MS/AVA