Iran and the arrested British sailors
Speculation on the reasons why this event happened:
1) The British sailors waded into Iranian territorial waters this one time, so Iran arrested them by matter of course.
--Not likely. I mean accidents happen, but I doubt there is much of an accident going there.
2) The British sailors did not wade into Iranian waters; the Iranian ship moved into Iraqi/international waters and arrested the British soldiers. Maybe the boat destined to Iraq was meant as a trap to attract the soldiers.
--Iran is trying to up the ante in its confrontation on the nuclear enrichment issue, or it's creating a diversion. Either way, it's more bravado from the Iranians.
3) The British have regularly overstepped Iraqi territorial limits into Iranian waters. Up to now, the Iranians mostly tolerated there incursions, but as they became more and more frequent, deeper into Iranian waters, the Iranians finally decided to take action to show that they wouldn't be laughed at.
--Unless stepping into Iranian waters actually made the coalition troops' jobs much easier, this would probably be a deliberate attempt at provoking the Iranians. Now that they have taken the bait, we wait to see what Britain and Iran will do. If the U.S. become actively involved, become very afraid. Kidnapping started the Israel-Lebanon war last summer.
1) The British sailors waded into Iranian territorial waters this one time, so Iran arrested them by matter of course.
--Not likely. I mean accidents happen, but I doubt there is much of an accident going there.
2) The British sailors did not wade into Iranian waters; the Iranian ship moved into Iraqi/international waters and arrested the British soldiers. Maybe the boat destined to Iraq was meant as a trap to attract the soldiers.
--Iran is trying to up the ante in its confrontation on the nuclear enrichment issue, or it's creating a diversion. Either way, it's more bravado from the Iranians.
3) The British have regularly overstepped Iraqi territorial limits into Iranian waters. Up to now, the Iranians mostly tolerated there incursions, but as they became more and more frequent, deeper into Iranian waters, the Iranians finally decided to take action to show that they wouldn't be laughed at.
--Unless stepping into Iranian waters actually made the coalition troops' jobs much easier, this would probably be a deliberate attempt at provoking the Iranians. Now that they have taken the bait, we wait to see what Britain and Iran will do. If the U.S. become actively involved, become very afraid. Kidnapping started the Israel-Lebanon war last summer.