Iran to release British sailors

BBC | Fox News

Open thread...

Comments

[ToMTom]

Flight home - SIS Debrief - Board of Inquiry

Blair & Co will no doubt have Sun Exclusive - Home Early to vote Labour on 3rd May !

[jfkalltheway]

TomTom you are lower than a snakes wedding tackle

[Yet Another Anon]

No doubt some very complex internal politicking in Iran was involved, I only hope that the Foreign Office didn't make any concessions with Iran to achieve this.

[Teddy Bear]

I don't know what you call a concession YAA, but one has the definite feeling that this whole exercise was a resounding and galling victory for the Iranians.

[Kevin Sampson]

Dateline yesterday:

Seized Iran diplomat free in Iraq

An Iranian diplomat kidnapped in Iraq in February has been freed.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6522113.stm

Looks like a quid pro quo to me.

[mamapajamas]

Now that we've received the happy news and can breathe a sigh of relief(!!!), I suss it out this way:

I'm beginning to have a suspicion that the people who nabbed the 15 did so without authorization from the government of Iran. The Iranian government was left holding the bag and trying to hide an out-of-control military, and probably spent the last few days tightening control on them again while trying to keep the rest of the world from finding that the 15 weren't supposed to have been kidnapped.

In the meantime, they had to put on an outraged "they were in our territory!" face for the world, and did so, although no one with more sense than God gave a doorknob believed it. The upcoming Easter holiday gave them an out, presenting itself as an opportunity to be "magnanimous", so they took it.

I am really sorry that those RN people got caught up in this, but I'm beginning to think it wasn't really Iranian government's fault after all... just some over-zealous lower level people who had to be kept concealed to keep the world from finding out that there's... what? Confusion? Some overstepping of authority? Whatever... lack of control.

At any rate, it's wonderful news that they're going home :).

[Annabel Herriott]

I was supposed to be spring cleaning my sitting room, which took me half the day as I was glued to News 24. What an amazing little ranter! Went back 100 years at one point, pinned medals on the captors, was it? Then suddenly announced that as a "gift" to the British, he was going to let our Sailors go. Then it got really surreal. He profoundly hoped that Blair would not put our Sailors on TRIAL!!!! LOL!!!!
The Marx Brothers could not do better.

[mamapajamas]

Annabel... surreal is certainly the right word for that man. Trial??? The man's out of his mind!

[Beth]

mamapajamas,

I disagree. I am pretty certain this was a calculated move.

First, after we arrested the Iranians in Iraq for their involvement in illegal insurgent activities, the Iranians said they were going to "strike back" at us. They did everything but send us an e-mail outlining their plans.

Second, remember back when the Israeli soldiers were kidnapped by Iranian backed Hezbollah just after sanctions against Iran were being discussed by the UN? The kidnapping degraded into a war with Lebanon which many theorized was originally a ploy to take the world's attention off of Iran's nuclear program. And now, just one day after the UN Security Council unanimously voted on sanctions, 15 British sailors were taken.

[Yet Another Anon]

I don't know what you call a concession YAA
Obviously they haven't taken sufficent action against Iran such as military action, by concessions I mean shifts in foreign or defence policy notably in the area, or prisoner releases of people Iran wants released - there were some signs that there might have been some FO influence used to obtain release of some prisoners held by US military and Iraqi authorities.

Prisoners are prisoners and shouldn't be used as pawns in international political disputes and timings of their release or what punishment they are to receive should not be affected by international relations with other countries.

[Teddy Bear]

The concession was that they allowed the Iranians to get away with an illegal act of abducting our service personnel, putting them on public display supporting the Iranian claims and score further political points from the manner of their release. The additional humiliation of the Iranian leader 'pleading' to the UK that we not put these personnel on trial for entering their waters.

I've already heard some of the media calling this a victory for diplomacy, so let's carry on appeasing tyrants and despots this way - it's a real victory - it'll be even easier next time around.

[Steevo]

Teddy, its so nice to be able to whole-heartedly agree with a Brit sober-minded and non-defensive. Indeed a brother in sprit.

This has been a show the Iranians and Arab/Muslim world understand better than so many in the West.

We'll soon undergo the next act.

[Teddy Bear]

Cheers Steevo - I think all those who understand the real agenda of the militant Muslim world understand too the import of this incident.