FORMER First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Alan West has backed a cautious approach to the kidnap of British servicemen, saying 'we don't want wars starting'.

Sir Alan was head of the navy the last time the Iranians kidnapped British sailors, in 2004. He said the government could not be gung-ho despite the massive UK and US naval presence in the region.

Sir Alan said: 'The rules are very much de-escalatory, because we don't want wars starting.

'The reason we're there is to be a force for good, to make the whole area safe, to look after the Iraqi big oil platforms and also to stop smuggling and terrorism – so we try to downplay things.

'Rather than roaring into action and sinking everything in sight we try to step back and that, of course, is why our chaps were effectively able to be captured and taken away.'

He added: 'One can't allow as standard practice nations to capture another nation's servicemen. That's clearly wrong.'

The Royal Navy has seven ships in the area, including the frigate HMS Sutherland, minehunters HMS Blythe and HMS Ramsey and three supply ships. The US has two aircraft carrier units.

Others have backed Sir Alan's view.

Portsmouth North MP Sarah McCarthy-Fry, who has visited the region, said: 'Hopefully this will be diplomatically resolved – it's obviously a highly delicate matter.

'You do not want to antagonise the Iranians.'

And David Hookes, the secretary of the Portsea branch of the Royal Naval Association, who served in the Gulf in the 1960s, said the HMS Cornwall crew was right not to have attacked.

'We're walking on eggshells to try to get some stability in the region. Cornwall did the right thing.'

Some Iranian sources suggest the 15 personnel may be charged with spying, a move which would dramatically ratchet up tensions, but experts think this unlikely.

Professor Sadaq Ziba-Kalam, of Tehran University, said he believed charges would not be brought. 'That part of the water between Iran and Iraq where the incident happened has been disputed for decades. It's difficult to draw the line and say this is the Iranian side of the border and this is the Iraqi side of the border.'

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has backed the British call for the personnel to be released, as has the EU.

She said they needed to be 'freed immediately.'