WASHINGTON, March 29: The United States has no reason “to choose a confrontational path” with Iran for the moment, US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said on Thursday.

“There is no reason for us to choose a confrontational path now,” Burns told Congress, amid rising tensions over Iran's detention of 15 British naval personnel accused of entering Iranian waters. “We believe diplomacy can succeed and we do not believe that conflict with Iran is inevitable.” Asked about the affair of the detained British sailors and marines, Burns remained cautious.“Obviously all of us hope that Iran will make the right decision and will release these people because they are entirely innocent,” he said, adding the group “were operating under UN authority as part of a multinational coalition and were clearly inside Iraqi waters.” He urged Americans to be patient saying that President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were using diplomacy to try to resolve the crisis.

“For the diplomacy to succeed we are going to have to be patient as well as persistent. We have some time to do that,” Burns said.

“There is no reason for us to choose a confrontational path now. We have time to pursue diplomacy and President Bush and Secretary Rice are doing that.” US military manoeuvers in the Gulf, a few days after the Britons were seized on Friday, had raised fears of a military escalation in the crisis, triggering a hike in oil prices.—AFP