Iran on Saturday denied maltreatment of 15 British sailors and marines who have been released and returned home, local media reported.

Ali Akbar Javanfekr, an adviser to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was quoted as saying that "the mistreatment of the sailors is a lie".

"The British authorities should know that they cannot keep hiding the truth from the British people," Javanfekr said, adding "by dictating certain statements made by the freed troops, the British authorities are seeking to improve their situation and diminish the pressure of British public opinion".

Teheran could have organised its own meeting of the sailors with journalists in Iran so that they could ask whatever they wanted but it did not do so to avoid the sailors having problems when they got home, stressed the Iranian official.

On March 23, 15 British naval personnel were seized by Iranian forces when they were patrolling off the Iraqi borders. Iran has insisted that the British boats made a blatant "incursion" into Iranian territorial waters.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Wednesday to free the 15 British naval personnel.

On Friday, Royal Marine Captain Chris Air and naval Lieutenant Feliz Carman said in a joint statement at a new conference on behalf of the freed group that they were told by the Iranians if they did not admit they had strayed into Iranian waters they faced seven years in prison.

"We were interrogated most nights and given two options. If we admitted that we had strayed, we would be back on a plane to the UK pretty soon. If we didn't, we faced up to seven years in prison," they said.

In response to the remarks by the 15 British sailors and marines, the Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement and called the remarks as a "staged show" to cover up their mistake.

"The staged show cannot cover up the British military personnel's mistake of illegally entering the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran," said the statement.