Iran is to prosecute the eight British soldiers detained for entering Iranian territorial waters without permit, Iran's state Arabic language news channel reported on Tuesday.  

"They are going to be prosecuted for illegally entering Iranian territorial waters," the report said, adding that the detained soldiers had already "confessed" to intruding Iranian waters.

Three British naval boats with eight crew were detained on Monday by Iran's naval guards after they allegedly entered the Iranian territorial part of the Shatt al-Arab waterway.

The incident came shortly after Britain, along with France and Germany, accused Iran of being less than fully cooperative with the International Atomic Energy Agency on the inspection of its nuclear program.

(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2004)