Quote:
Originally Posted by Tron_fdc
I don't understand why the Iranians didn't just give the sailors back.....what were they thinking? Something long the lines of "I'm going to make a point of this, keep them locked up, and in the meantime give the Americans a reason to come over and kick my ass"?????
You had to see something like this happening when they were first arrested...
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It's much more calculated than that. If they wanted conflict, they would have had some sort of aggression toward American forces; because of the American policy of zero diplomacy with Iran, that would have necessitated conflict. But because the troops are British, they know that they're safe from the US until Britain first declares war, and Britain is a long way off from doing that: not only is Britain generally more diplomatic, Iran heard the cries of the need for a measured response from the west (including Britain) in regards to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Britain is unlikely to escalate the situation unless it looks like the prisoners will come to harm. Perhaps this is an attempt to get a bargaining chip to secure the release of the IRG operatives, or to try to force a negotiation in regards to the disputed waterway.