Iran complains to UK over consulate shots in Iraq

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has sent a letter to the British embassy in Tehran complaining about shots fired by British troops near its consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, Iran's ISNA news agency said on Sunday.

Iran previously accused British forces of surrounding the consulate on Thursday and firing into the air in a provocative act. The British military denied any aggressive action.

The spat over the consulate shooting comes amid a stand-off over 15 British sailors and marines detained by Iran for what Tehran says was their illegal entry into Iranian waters. Britain says the Britons were seized in Iraqi waters.

ISNA, citing a Foreign Ministry official, said a letter of complaint was sent to the embassy on Saturday.

"Iran asked Britain to prevent any such actions from happening again and asked for the British soldiers in Iraq to respect international regulations applied to diplomatic places," ISNA quoted the official as saying.

Britain confirmed the letter had been received but dismissed it. "We have responded. There was no incident," a British Foreign Office spokesman said.

Iran earlier said it had complained to the Iraqi government about the incident.

The British military said the shots heard came from a British convoy that was ambushed in the same street as the consulate in central Basra.

"It is pure coincidence that this took place in the vicinity of the Iranian consulate," a British Defence Ministry spokeswoman said.