Iran Seizes British Sailors

[BrandonJ1780]

Not a lot of info yet...Didn't this same thing happen in early 06 or 05?
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2007-03-23T124131Z_01_COL331821_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ-IRAN-BRITAIN.xml&src=rss&rpc=22
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6484279.stm
Links from Drudge.

 

[phrogpilot73]

Not a lot of info yet...Didn't this same thing happen in early 06 or 05?

It was in the BBC article you linked:

In 2004, Iran detained eight British servicemen for three days after they allegedly strayed over the maritime border.

The UK claimed the men were "forcibly escorted" into Iranian territorial waters.

While they were being held, the men were paraded blindfold and made to apologise on Iranian TV before their release was agreed.

 

[raptor10]

Damn - Godspeed Guys.

So will there be a military response?

 

[Kickflip89]

Seems like it's just a misunderstanding of sorts...no fighting occurred according to CNN;

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/03/23/iran.uk/index.html

 

[squorch2]

Yah, from the article, the captain of the ship didn't sound too worried that this would escalate into some sort of shooting match:

"There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that they [British personnel] were in Iraqi territorial waters. Equally, the Iranians may claim they were in Iranian waters.... I hope we find this is a simple misunderstanding at the tactical level."

(emphasis mine)

Either way, there were no shots fired, everyone is safe, and I'm sure they'll be returned unharmed.

 

[Brett327]

Damn - Godspeed Guys.

So will there be a military response?

Come on, dude. You know better than that.

Brett

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

Damn - Godspeed Guys.

So will there be a military response?

Highly doubtful.

 

[MasterBates]

Come on, dude. You know better than that.

Brett

You sure? He did go after Feddoc's daughter...

 

[raptor10]

Have we heard from Iran? Last thing I heard from those guys was that

“We’ve got the ability to capture a nice bunch of blue-eyed blond-haired officers and feed them to our fighting cocks,”

Since when has it been acceptable to kidnap sailors because of a misunderstanding?

 

[raptor10]

Either way, there were no shots fired, everyone is safe, and I'm sure they'll be returned unharmed.

There were no shots fired because the Brits had no weapons... Is the sop for this situation to roll over and take it? I'm not sensing any anger over this. Are we gonna wait till they start demanding tribute before we get upset over this...

 

[Schnugg]

Damn - Godspeed Guys.

So will there be a military response?

Of course...

But seriously, you'd be surprised at the number of small skirmishes that occur in the NAG. Throwing a little weight around here and there is not uncommon for other nations to do in that area.

As stated in the OP, this has happened before.

 

[HeyJoe]

Have we heard from Iran? Last thing I heard from those guys was that

“We’ve got the ability to capture a nice bunch of blue-eyed blond-haired officers and feed them to our fighting cocks,”

Since when has it been acceptable to kidnap sailors because of a misunderstanding?

Ever read about the Barbary War(s)? Of course, profit was main motive for kidnapping ships and sailors then. This is a political act designed to serve purpose within Iran and outside the country. This type activity has been in practice on and off for ages.

 

[squorch2]

Have we heard from Iran? Last thing I heard from those guys was that

“We’ve got the ability to capture a nice bunch of blue-eyed blond-haired officers and feed them to our fighting cocks,”

Since when has it been acceptable to kidnap sailors because of a misunderstanding?

1) The sole source of that quotation (which I believe to be accurate - the attribution of the paper it was in as "the mouthpiece of the Revolutionary Guard" I don't) was ynetnews.com... not exactly a neutral party.

2) Things get really hard to pin down when it comes to territorial waters, since they can overlap... can a SWO help out here?

 

[squorch2]

There were no shots fired because the Brits had no weapons.

Um, I'm pretty sure you don't take down a ship with your fists.

 

[raptor10]

Ever read about the Barbary War(s)? Of course, profit was main motive for kidnapping ships and sailors then. This is a political act designed to serve purpose within Iran and outside the country. This type activity has been in practice on and off for ages.

That was my point, we went to war with countries over this same situation...