Why Have Iran taken our troops hostage? what going on?

Question

is it provokation for an attack?

Answer 1

Just political posturing. They'll be released unharmed. Pay no attention - get on with your work.

Answer 2

1/ Given that the USA and the UK have spy satellites and can pinpoint any part of the globe within 3m or less one would assume they knew where there own vessels and personnel were on the seas.

2/ Perhaps the Allied politicians made a deliberate incursion into Iran's territorial waters to provide an excuse to 'take out' Iran's nuclear potential. Were the Marines sacrificial pawns?

3/ Perhaps Iran has deliberately seized the British personnel to use them as a 'bargaining counter'.

4/ The British warship must have been near the scene of the incident and one has to ask why, with all the sophisticated weaponry at their disposal, they took no action to defend their own personnel from attack and capture.

5/ Whatever view you take is of little consequence as the Politicians will always do as they wish no matter what spin they put on it..

6/ Politicians make war and ordinary men and women have to fight them. During the conflict ordinary men and women plus civilian casualties will take all the flak, The Politicians will be safe at their lavish conferences and jamborees.

Answer 3

No its not an provocation.Iran realizes that the UN security council is moments away from taking a vote on implementing harsh sanctions against Iran`s nuclear programme.So i think by holding 15 British servicemen as hostage ,they are trying to strike a negotiation deal with Britain(a key member of the Coucil) to vote in favour of Iran.
Personally ,i doubt that`s likly to happen

Answer 4

Iran claims that the Brits were operating inside of Iranian waters. Of course, this is in retaliation Iranian diplomats being supposedly arrested in Iraq by colaition troops. This is not a good move by Iran with the international community condemning their nuclear program and about to start imposing sanctions on their country.

Answer 5

I think that they are provoking us and waiting to see if we will attack (pushing to see how far they can). They also know that there would be many people that would object to an attack. I think it is a clever move and they are trying to stir up problems. It is going to get a lot worse.

Answer 6

As Iran thought that they were in Iranian water when infact they weren't, but this can't be good, as if they don't release them, Blair might send troops in to get them

Answer 7

Actually, it was British Soldiers, but Iran has something up it's sleeve, always have, always will. God Bless the Soldiers!!

Answer 8

They just love to be awkward. It'll blow over in a week or so because although they love to be awkward, they're not the loonies they are sometimes made out to be.

Answer 9

Yes, of course it is. Don't be surprised if Iran kills them. It's tough dealing with nonhumans who kidnap decent people.

Answer 10

Iran is in a heap of trouble.....

Iran is dealing with two issues. First, Iran has captured 15 British sailors. Second, Iran has refused to cooperate with the U.N. regarding cessation of uranium enrichment.

Military confrontation may be on the horizon.
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=3961
In addition to the British naval vessels at the Diego Garcia atoll in the Indian ocean, there is a multi-national force in the Persian Gulf. The British HMS Cornwall aircraft carrier strike group, the American aircraft carrier strike group Bremerton-based aircraft carrier CVN-74 John C. Stennis, the American aircraft carrier strike group USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the French nuclear carrier Charles de Gaulle and its task force are all in close appoximation in the Persian Gulf. The USS Nimitz may also be in the Persian Gulf as it was scheduled for its WESTPAC07 deployment to replace the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/navy/batgru-68.htm

More details about military options can be found here:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iran-strikes.htm

Iran has elicited "confessions" from the 15 British sailors they captured and may put them on trial for espionage. The penalty for espionage in Iran is death.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article1563877.ece
“If it is proven that they deliberately entered Iranian territory, they will be charged with espionage. If that is proven, they can expect a very serious penalty since according to Iranian law, espionage is one of the most serious offences.” Espionage carries a death sentence.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6493391.stm
Iran's detention of 15 Royal Navy personnel is "unjustified and wrong", Prime Minister Tony Blair has said. UK officials are waiting to be granted access to the HMS Cornwall staff, who were seized on Friday, and have not been told where the group are held.

"It simply is not true that they went into Iranian territorial waters and I hope the Iranian government understands how fundamental an issue this is for us," Mr Blair said.

"We have certainly sent the message back to them very clearly indeed. They should not be under any doubt at all about how seriously we regard this act, which is unjustified and wrong."

On March 23, 2007, U.S. and British officials said a boarding party from the frigate HMS Cornwall was seized about during a routine inspection of a merchant ship inside Iraqi territorial waters near the disputed Shatt al-Arab waterway.

The seizure of two Royal Navy inflatable boats took place just outside the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, a 125-mile channel dividing Iraq from Iran. Its name means Arab Coastline in Arabic, and Iranians call it Arvandrud - Persian for Arvand River. A 1975 treaty recognized the middle of the waterway as the border.

Iranians send arms to Iraqi extremists, including sophisticated roadside bombs. This week, two commanders of an Iraqi Shiite militia told The Associated Press in Baghdad that hundreds of Iraqi Shiites had crossed into Iran for training by the elite Quds force, a branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guard thought to have trained Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

Regarding enrichment of uranium, Iranian President Mahmaoud Ahmadinejad abruptly cancelled his appearance before the U.N. security council and in his stead, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki Iran spoke. He indicated that Iran was willing to continue negotiations but without the precondition that uranium enrichment must be halted.

Mottaki said, "the world has two options to proceed on the nuclear issue: continued negotiations or confrontation. Choosing the path of confrontation ... will have its own consequences. "
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070325/D8O3E7J00.html

The U.N. security council unanimously voted to expand sanctions on March 24, 2007.

The new resolution 1747 calls on Iran to comply fully with all previous UN resolutions and join negotiations to reach agreement so as to restore international confidence in the peaceful nature of its nuclear program. Full transparency and cooperation with the IAEA are required. Suspension of Iran’s banned nuclear activities will elicit the parallel suspension of sanctions. The package of incentives offered Tehran last year for its cooperation remains on the table.

The full text of the draft of resolution 1747 appears at this website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6455853.stm
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