Mar 24 2007
Iran seizes British boat
Sorry about the relative paucity of posts around here lately - been rather obnoxiously busy with work. That said, there’s something very interesting happening in the news right now…
From the LA Times - Irani official alleges held British admit territory violation:
TEHRAN — An Iranian official today alleged that 15 British personnel detained in the Persian Gulf had confessed during interrogations to violating Iranian territorial waters.
Iranians transported the British sailors and Marines from a base in southwestern Iran to the capital for “interrogations and investigations,” said officials speaking through official news outlets.
The seizure in the volatile Persian Gulf has sparked a diplomatic row between London and Tehran just as the U.N. Security Council prepares to impose further sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program.
Meanwhile, Reuters is reporting that a fisherman says he saw Britons detained in Iraqi waters:
“We’ve been working in this job for many years and because of our experience we can distinguish which is the Iraqi and which is Iranian side,” he said, adding that Iraqi boats never venture across because of tight security by Iranian coastguards.
He said the ship the British forces were searching was among several that had been anchored for a week or more, waiting to unload or take on cargo at an Iraqi port.
“The ship was in Iraqi waters,” said the fisherman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.
This is very interesting for a variety of reasons, including the fact that Iran isn’t handing the British sailors and marines back and has been interrogating them. If Iran overplays their hand here, even though the British people aren’t exactly for the Iraq war at the moment, their not exactly known for backing down against those that wrong them, either (see Falklands War). I don’t think this will be a Gulf of Tonkin-esque incident, but I do suspect that this could very easily sway British opinion in the direction that Iran really is dangerous and that sterner measures need to be put in place to ensure they don’t get nuclear weapons. If this incident doesn’t horribly backfire in the face of the Iran, I don’t know what will.
I think it’s pretty safe to say that Bush and his fans are smiling right now.
EDIT: Pajamas Media has a good roundup of what’s going on, including some analysis and a running blog of each event as it unfolds.
We, ethnocentrically, may look at this as an incident which will backfire. However, Iran earns points with Russia and China whenever it opposes us. Especially on issues like territorial waters, of particular interest to China vis a vis Taiwan, which it has a leg to stand on in respect to international law. Iran is trying to strengthen its image as an up and coming regional power being picked on by the world’s sole remaining superpower. Persians are famous for double faced diplomacy and political subterfuge. Iran has a two in five shot to secure a veto from the security council. Asians respond well to indirect approaches and China is just looking for an excuse to snub America. China will take it, we’ll think that it strengthens our position in the future, and Iran will continue to run circles around us without us being sophisticated enough to even realize it.