Iran Gov't Seizes Royal Navy Boats & Sailors

[punky]

Originally Posted by towny

Mind you, that was back at the beginning of the war, hopefully it's calmed down a bit now - although the arrest of the British soldiers, set in that context, is worrying. Who's to say they really had strayed over the border? Many recent reports have said that nobody is entirely certain where the border is.

True, but i'm sure the pot-shots are more recent. Either I mis-read the 2003 as 2004, or there are more recent reports out there.

I think Iran wanted to engage in "pr**k-waving" (sorry ladies. I need a better phrase for it). It wouldn't suprise me if they seized the boats from within Iraq. Noone knows where the border is and there are no signposts around there.

Needless to say if we were going to invade Iran, we would have used more than 3 rubber dinghys, 8 sailors, side arms, a couple of sub machine guns and night vision goggles.

[Theodoric]

Originally Posted by towny

One thing is certain, they're not going to end up in some smelly Iranian jail. The Iranians don't like us very much but they can ill-afford that kind of dent in their international standing. This is just further muscle-flexing. There will probably be a show trial, leading to some appalling sentence, and at that point, they will be handed over as a 'sign of good will'.

I say we storm in there and get them out ourselves, and show those tinpot 'Revolutionary Guards' how the job is done.

I'd agree. They know that Straw and, to a greater extent, the EU are trying to mend fences with them. Poking us in the eye isn't in their interests. Unfortunately, the Iranian government is divided between the strong conservatives and the weak liberals.

[Ramrod]

The plot thickens

Eight British servicemen claim they were "forcibly escorted into Iranian territorial waters" before being taken captive, the defence secretary has said.
Geoff Hoon said the six Royal Marines and two Royal Navy sailors maintained they had been operating in Iraq's waters and had not strayed into Iran's.

[punky]

Originally Posted by Ramrod

The plot thickens

Not suprised.... Not suprised.....

Originally Posted by punky

Not suprised.... Not suprised.....

Certainly adds weight to your suggestion that the Iranians have been looking for trouble.