This has happened before. Last time the UK soldiers were returned unharmed, I suspect the same will happen again.
He said the confrontation happened as the British contingent was traveling along the boundary of territorial waters between Iran and Iraq.
Here is another idea. They strayed into Iranian waters to test the Iranian response and defenses. It is no secret that we have been running spy missions into Iran for quite some time now.
If we dont get them back completly safe and unharmed we should sink their entire navy.
SourceIran holding 15 British sailors
Michael Thurston in Tehran
March 23, 2007
A ministry spokesman declined to give further details, but underlined that the British navy was boarding merchant ships in Iraqi waters in support of UN Security Council resolution 1723.
“Typically what happens is that we would send a couple of inflatables,” he said.
“It was a routine boarding operation in support of the UN resolution.
“Normally what would happen is that we have the Navy ships monitoring vessels going in and out of the area, so we would call them up on the radio and go through a simple list of checks and if there's anything that's not right, they send out two boats of naval personnel to board it.
“They check the cargo and see if the boat needs any assistance,” he said.
British naval boats routinely patrol the Shatt al-Arab to clamp down on smugglers operating between Iraq and Iran.
Page two of the link..
Fisherman witnessed scene
A fisherman who said he was with a group of Iraqis from the southern city of Basra fishing in Iraqi waters in the northern area of the Gulf said he saw the Iranian seizure. The fisherman, who was contacted by telephone by an AP reporter in Basra, declined to be identified because of security concerns.
“Two boats, each with a crew of six to eight multinational forces, were searching Iraqi and Iranian boats Friday morning in Ras al-Beesha area in the northern entrance of the Arab Gulf, but big Iranian boats came and took the two boats with their crews to the Iranian waters.”
The Cornwall’s commander, Commodore Nick Lambert, said the frigate lost communication with the boarding party, but a helicopter crew saw the Iranian vessels approach.
“I’ve got 15 sailors and marines who have been arrested by the Iranians and my immediate concern is their safety,” Lambert told British Broadcasting Corp. television.
The Iranian Navy was in the process of conducting war games the week in question. The sailors and marines should be returned in a timely fashion, unharmed. If they are harmed in anyway that should be a pre-requisite for war. Hopefully the rest of the world would reach the same conclusion. Germany and China have pushed for economic sanctions against Iran, as well as Russia pulling out approximately 2,000 engineers from Iranian nuclear sites for repeatedly failing to pay their monthly dues.
They should give them 72 hours. Period. No conditions. Agree to call it a misunderstanding resolved by cooperative diplomatic understanding. Then drop it. Everybody looks good.
On hour 73, if the captured Brits are not safely tucked into their racks on some HMS ship....light Iran up like the 4th of July.
We dont want to be doing that. If Iran responded to that they could hit us where it hurt, namely iraq.
Don't worry, they promote the cowardice of other countries towards these nowadays Nazis. They know very well how to take care of their interests. They have a huge nuclear arsenal but they are telling that Israel have no right to hold this kind of weapon. Hizbullah refuses to say if the Israeli soldiers are alive and they (the British regime's mantra) are speaking only about disproportionate repsonse of Israel.but haven't you folks learned anything from history? The more you appease, the bolder they become. Cowardice reinforces their strategy since you are showing them how well it works.
If 15 Iranian soldiers were suddenly stuck in the Thames would UK listen to the Iranian demands to release them immediately?
The one who thinks that UK would release them immediately is nothing but a hypocrite.
Does the UN mandate allows them to enter the sea territory of Iran?If Iranians were in the Thames, under UN Mandate, like the Brits in those waters, there would be no problem.
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