punditman says:
Ah yes, the latest "hostage" crisis between Iran and the West...
Hmmm....whatever happened to those five Iranian diplomats the US took recently in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil? Nobody knows, and as far as anyone can tell, the Iranians have not yet asked the Brits to try to arrange for a prisoner exchange. Not that Bush cares to actually help out his poodle Tony Blair when it really counts.
As , points out, the boundaries between Iran and Iraq are fake, drawn up by the UK Ministry of Defence and not recognised by any international authority:
How I know Blair faked Iran map. There is no agreed boundary in the Northern Gulf, either between Iran and Iraq or between Iraq and Kuwait.
Near the end of the piece, he clearly states that this by no means justifies Iranian actions. But I hasten to add that none of this should surprise anyone given ongoing tensions between Iran and the West. In the eyes of the Iranians, the British are part of a coalition in Iraq that is supporting separatist insurgents in a low-level, undeclared war inside Iran's borders. These clandestine operations involve American military and special-operations teams gathering intelligence inside Iran, giving financial aid to ethnic minorities and drawing up lists of targets for a planned bombing campaign that could take place with a mere 24-hours notice.
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