Iran ups the stake with seizure of British sailors
March 26th, 2007 by ashish
It seems that the hardliners in Iran are currently upping the stakes in its confrontation with the international community. After being slapped with a slightly more restrictive set of sanctions, the Iranians took a major escalation when they captured 15 British sailors at gunpoint, claiming that they had entered Iranian territorial waters.
At a point of time when there is already a state of tension between Iran and the west, it really would not make sense to increase the stakes in the stand-off, but this action of Iran seems to have done that.
Britain claims that these sailors were arrested at gun-point inside Iraqi territorial waters, something backed up by the Iraqi Government, while the Iranians claim that they were inside Iranian waters when they were arrested. No matter what the truth, the current position is very dangerous. Inspite of renewed diplomatic efforts by Britain, they have not yet had contact with the sailors. If this situation continues for more time, the public reaction in Britain will start to smoulder and will in turn reduce the negotiating time. It is time for Iran to realize that such a power-play does not help anyone, and they should release the sailors fortwith.
