Thanks to Mr Kennedy, the author of the article we can finally see with some clarity the reported versions of this incident.
It was difficult to find such an article in the British press.
Well done to the author.

Berti, Cádiz, España

could evry American who has commented on this issue, and is giving diplomatic, tacticle and militant advice. please tell me from which precedent you drew your knowledge and experience from.was it the way you delt with hyroshima or was it your outstanding work in vietnam. or your tackticle positioning of russian misles and ships around your counrty in the cold war. or even your first trip to iraq in 1991. where you acttually managed to kill more of your own than the other side. or was it your great national security that allowed 2 american planes to distroy the twin towers. it was osma! lets get him! or maby we'll go to afganistan, not find him and start another war in iraq and find there weapons of mass distruction. which still dont seem to have appeared. oh well lets just hang there leader to prove what a humane state we've created. this matter was never easy to deal with. but managed to resolve it with no casulties or deaths. what better outcome could there be.

Huw, london, England

The Algiers agreement between Iraq and Iran outlines the deepest part of the waterway as the border.
So if the inflatable boats were in water "too shallow" for HMS Cornwell to provide cover, they must have been in Iranian water.

Trevor, Raligh, USA

What about the actions of the sailors not only during the capture but afterwards. Not one shot was fired. How could they not defend themselves and their equipment. These men and lady should feel disgraced. Their lack of action is appalling and represent a severe lack of trainingn and courage. Did someone mention to the British Navy that they are in hostile land and waters. How could you send these poeple into combat? And withing 48 hours they are denouncing their own country on TV. I found this despicable. The Americans are the only ones left in the Western world willing to take on tough challenges and provide the world with security. This escapade will further embolden those radical muslims brewing in the ghettos in London. Good luck and don't cry to us when you get your ass kicked!

Tom, apex, nc, US

In response to McDuff above... let's all just roll over then and do nothing... it's attitudes like this that have basically removed the 'Great' from Great Britain. This and previous governments have basically just handed this country on a plate to any faction that likes the handouts but doesn't want us to offend their sensitivity. What about the indiginous people of this country.... who will protect their sensitivities? God help future generations.

Hall, Wakefield, Yorkshire

How not to see a link with the disappearance of General Ali Reza Asghari ?!
It would make sense that Iran regime has jumped on the opportunity to capture a few hostages, in order to negotiate their release against the return of this clearly knowledgeable VIP.

Ben, Paris, France

The capture of our men and women in what is clearly Iraqi waters is in my eyes an act of war.
Where has the 'Great' in Great Britain gone?

Sean M, Ipswich, UK

Iran 15 - United Kingdom 0

The writing has been on the wall ever since Iran beat Scotland in the 1978 football world cup!!

Come off it guys! Who are we trying to kid?? Britain is a tin pot little Island with no armed forces to speak of and no real world standing anymore! The glory days of power and empire have long gone.

Lets just get the lads and lasses home and let those people from Iran/Iraq get on with it!

Mcduff, Perth, UK

come on guys, you have to admit that the creator of the chess has made chess matt to the brithish in a clean way.
the british entred the iranian waters, they were captured, you have to recognise it an respect other countries, you speak about human right in darfour and killing 1000000nz of people around the world,?????

pitate, tomboktou, mali

So Iran alleges the British were in their "holy" water. Then we need a "holy" war. Step one, to capture 15 important Iranians from anywhere in the world to hold as offsetting hostages, Step 2 issue Ultimatum , recall Ambassador cutting all ties with Tehran, Step 3 to bomb selected sites to do maximum financial harm to Muslim Mullah interests,
Step 4 Offer to withold severe strikes on nuclear installations. Ridicule militant Islam !

Norman Mitchell, Toronto, Canada

This incident is now making us look weak & helpless. Without doubt the Cornwall would have had to get permission from London before even thinking of engaging the Iranian Navy.

The armed forces tactics now appear to be so bound by red tape that they are starting to endanger the the personel that have to opporate under them. The treatment of the captured crew has been in line with other terrorist gangs MO. Surly its about time that sensible countries realised thats all Iran is.....The body language and retoric of its leaders are riddled with neo terrorist behavior & activities. We are never going to be able to cope with these antics with both our hands manicled behind our back.
So please can we stop our ancesters spinning in their graves and make Iran understand that unless we have our people back right now there will be a price to pay.

Steve Brennan, Telford, UK

7:26 PM (USA, ET)

The AP has just reported that Iran's president has called Britain "arrogant and selfish" for not apologizing over what he called the incursion of 15 captured British sailors and marines into Iranian waters.

The AP continues: "President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's most extensive comments on the crisis closely followed tough talk from other Iranian officials, an indication that Tehran's position could be hardening."

Well, this certainly is positive news, isn't it? Britain has now been shown a clear "diplomatic" path out of this mess. Simply admit your wrongdoing, bow deeply and apologize. What could be simpler and more reasonable than that?

Brittania, I say take this generous offer from the Iranians before they get angry and change their minds!

Dan Friedman, New York City, USA

Viewing British Sailors praising their Iranian captors made me realise how useless the West really is.Once upon a time if you gave the enemy more than your name serial no# and rank you would be traitor and many died at Gestapo hands doing only this. Iran would not touch these sailors for fear of total onslaught from the USA [not sissy Britian] and yet there they go... blathering their mouths off.

Leslie Udwin, Johannesburg, South Africa

I am an American citizen. Please world, do not judge the American people by our President. We, overwhelmingly, voted in our last election to end his insane war. We hate the image our President has created for us in the world community. We are truly peace loving people who have always tried to help those in need.

With that being said, many Americans look to the UK as our mother country, with whom we have deep ties and admiration for. We grieve with you, and the families of the 15 who were captured, illegally, and you have 100% of our support. As much as we hate war, and we really do, the concensus from America is that we will back our British brothers and sisters anyway we can, and if that means going to war with you.......we will, with unconditional support.

With affection,

Joie McDonald, Cincinnati, OH, USA

>>> Bush stragety 101 by carl rowe. after 7 years you think educated people would notice what's going

That's it. Bush did it!

By the way, it's Karl Rove, genius. You'd think after 7 years, you'd at least know the name of the man you hate. Oh, and "stragety" isn't a word. Perhaps you meant strategy.

John, Northampton, USA

Iran never forgot US/ British meddling & invidious facilitation given
to Iraq during the ten year war in eighties.
MOD underrated those guys ..again.Number 10 hoisted by its own petard..A crowning farewell present to biffling Toni.

Willy Mall , Lydd, UK

The Commander of HMS Cornwall (F99) took charge in November 2006 and was only on station in The Gulf from 12th March 2007 taking over from the US Navy.......and now he is light 15 crew members........

TomTom, Leeds, England

The Iranian regime is taking advantage of the West's greatest weakness, political correctness. Years of Marxist indoctrination has caused so many in the West to view our civilization as racist, imperialistic and illegitimate. Now when confronted by the obvious manipulations of a malignant aggressor we lack the sense of self-righteousness to defend our citizens. The best we can muster is an expression of "grave concern" by the UN! Ahmadinejad and the mullahs laughed when they were informed of that, I assure you.

Steve, New York, USA

Winston Churchill must be spinning in his grave.

What's the next step for the feminized Brits?

Paint your "war" ships pink?

graywolf, Ferrisburgh, VT, USA

Whilst I agree that on the surface the Captain of HMS Cornwall should face a court martial on charges of 'dereliction of duty' and 'negligence', I think that you will find that he will have a cast iron defense. It is almost certain that he was under orders not to react if such an occurrence took place without obtaining clearance from the UK. I served in the services in most of the 'hot-spots' from the mid-fifties to the mid-seventies and in almost every area that was the case. After Templar made the politicians look foolish in the early fifties they were determined to never let it happen again. All commanders from that time on were under sealed orders from London restricting their ability to act.

An example of one that didn't take the hint was Mitchell in Aden, and look what happened to him! Sorry, buck stops with Number 10 and MOD.

Ex-Pat, Saulieu, France

The President should go to the UN and stand in front of a giant movie screen.
There he should announce that in compliance with general world opinion, the US will withdraw its forces and its money from any country that request we leave.
However, should the US determine it or its allies are under threat, (a colored picture of a nuclear blast shows on the movie screen) we will respond with the full military might of the nation and continue until the threat is fully neutralized-no negotiation -no quarter- no safe haven.
This is the unfortunate results of: a) We can no longer afford to fund any cause outside our own nation. b) We will take all threats very seriously. c) We really have no choice.
The decision is yours(the world)- Our non-interference and peace or should you declare or demonstrate continued threat- your total and utter demise.

Ron Castellano, Nanty Glo, PA

i thnk personaly we have been made to look weak we need the eu to stop all trade with iran and demand out sailors back and stop pussy fooding about.

kay, selby, uk

."..a brief lesson from Israel on how to act when your troops are unlawfully captured is in place for the Royal Navy. - Gary, Alicante, Spain"

I think comments like these are a bit of wishful thinking combined with nostalgia. Thanks to the incessant Israel-bashing of Britain & Europe, Israel has now assumed the same timid posture. After going to full-scale war over hostages taken by Hamas and Hezbollah, Israel failed to follow-thru, withdrew and to this day hasn't recovered a single man. Talk about Jewish assimilation!

Dan Friedman, New York City, NY USA

What would your ancestors say about this feeble reaction to this obvious act of aggression against the British people, come on get a grip UK and show them what you are made of, you have the power and the strength, just regain your confidence and use it.

Brad, Boston, USA

I think a brief lesson from Israel on how to act when your troops are unlawfully captured is in place for the Royal Navy.

Gary, Alicante, Spain

The frigate is a fairly sophisticated warship with a heavy gun and a missile battery. Cornwall didn't even fire a shot across the bow of the Iranians fleeing with the ship's own sailors - in a war zone. Now you expect punctilious diplomatic back-and-forth to get the Iranians to release your people? Get real, boy and girls.

Dan Friedman, New York City, NY USA

All sounds incompetent to me considering the region and we have been at war for years.
I think the Iranians are playing a stormer, you have to give it to them

John Smith, Leeds, UK

Its interesting to do a search through all the comments using the word "Israel". The general impression that I receive as an Israeli, is that the majority of the posters here want and need us to intervene and put a stop to the aggressive leaders of Iran.

You can count on it.

Gil, Tel Aviv, * I S R A E L *

How could the Iranians "ambush" the boarding party when HMS Cornwall was allegedly monitoring the situation, had sophisticated equipment operating at the time and had helicopter cover available? It must have been known that these are dangerous waters, that disputes over exact boundary lines exist. Clearly someone was sleeping on Cornwall. Now the government has been handed a very sticky mess to sort out. As with the whole of this Iraq Iranian business, our government does not listen to those who know a little of the culture and thought processes of the muslim mind. They have rules that are very different from those envisaged by the mandarins and other foreign office flunkies on whom we have to rely.

John Groom, Yerevan, Armenia

'Commodore' Nick Lambert ought to face a court marial for failure in his first duty as an officer to protect the men under his commissioned command. I can think of about six charges. Non doubt a knighthood will come his way- eventually.

Victor Cowen , Malaga, Spain

If the Royal Navy hasn’t the expertise or the equipment to handle a few Iranian gunboats, then they should get back to Portsmouth, reminisce on the glorious past and let the professionals do the job – the Americans. If the Iranians in the gunboats had found out that they were dealing with Americans (and they did ask first), they would have given a sloppy grin, waved bye-bye and scuttled back with their tail between their legs. Third World countries think twice before tweaking the American tail after the 'demonstration' in Iraq.

John, Bangor, UK

Iran only has one oil refinery. They have to import refined gasoline as they do not have enough capacity to refine their own needs. Someone should whisper in their ear that if the sailors aren't home within days that their sole refinery might meet with an accident. Iran would be crippled by the end of April.

Guy Thornton, Swindon,

Time to eat crow to get our people back and thereafter wind down our activities within the United Nations, This is also an opportunity to speed our withdrawal from Iraq.
We provide the finance and manpower and get no backing when there is confrontation.
What a fantastic case for updating Trident. Clearly nobody will stand beside us in troubles only with wise words.

Vernon Cooper, Yeavil, United Kingdom

What's all this about "suspicion" it was premeditated. Does any sensible person really think it was NOT premeditated? So long as the West tries to foist its values on other people but does not defend its own people and values when it matters, it will always be made to look assinine. Time to wake up.

Fred Hillman, Perth, W Australia

So the Iranian navy is smarter than ours, Oh dear. Or perhaps our captain was to busy filling out his daily gender equality assessment report to notice those sneaky fellows.

martyn millard, calvia, mallorca

"If all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail."

And if you don't have a hammer, be prepared to be someone else's nail.

M. Fernandez, San Francisco,

Maybe if Blair cries like a jilted schoolgirl the Iranians will release the hostages out of disgust. Either that or seize 15 oil tankers coming out of Iran until the hostages are freed.

van west, indianapolis,

Maybe if Blair cries like a jilted schoolgirl the Iranians will release the hostages out of disgust. Either that or seize 15 oil tankers coming out of Iran until the hostages are freed.

van west, indianapolis,

Discretion is the better part of valour and he who is slow to anger shows great wisdom. In the UK, Tony Blair's government should be actively composing Plan B should Plan A (diplomacy) fail. To fail to make Iran comply with international law will only open the can of worms, that is Iran, even further. We all know where it ends - Israel and an ever expanding Persian Empire.
And I concur with another respondent - you cannot reason with the unreasonable and you cannot offer rationale to the ignorant.
Also, the prisoners at Guantanemo were taken in battle. As far as I know, the UK is not at war with Iran.

Richard, BSB, Brunei

One man's racist bigot is another man's patriot with pride in his heritage and a certain knowledge that he is in the right...there are too many nonplussed individuals in Londinium for this country to survive...shame on you, Mohammed, for not appreciating the gift you were given of an opportunity to live in a free country and absorb a little of our history and values.

Richard Russell, london, uk

The Shat Al Arab Has been in dispute for 80 years, ostensibly the border extends outward from land. It is easy to view this in historical terms if one is so disposed. ..Except for the seizure of Iranian Nationals in Iraqi territory engaged the act of aiding the Shiite sectarian militias. America presents a convenient target in this civil war but are not necessarily wrong in attempting to disarm and demobilize these non governmental forces. Until the Iranian President gets off this course of confrontation and threats we are all under threat of violence. How, I ask myself could Nostradamus have known, or do these predictions become self fulfilling?
Those of us who think about these things can come to no other conclusion than that Brittain, Israel and the USA will eventually attempt to put to rest this threat irregardless of world opinion with this abduction as impetus if not pretext for action.
Mr Ahmadinejad should be careful what he wishes for.

P Pople, waterloo,

Hey Brits,

Kick their butts...will ya please? My grandmother's brother fought as a soldier in the British Army in WWII before coming to America. He had many stories of fighting the Germans in the desert. He lived to have a great life and was a man of honarble character. Don't let the wimpy media convince you that loving the maniacal tyrants of the world is a solution. It is not. Suit up, shape up, get some firearms training then go kick their butts. They have it coming -- this entire event was staged to try and embarass you. Don't let them do it. Cheers and Godspeed.

Ralph Erthanu, Princeton, NJ

I fail to see how Britain owuld lose, if only the PM would hold a press conference and graciously, but not slavishly, apoligize in the qualified event that Britain was in teh wrong. The PM could then state that Britain has checked and rechecked its information and does not beleive it was iin Iragi waters. Next Britain could assure Iran that it would never have meant any offence to Iran and understands that Iran may fgeel on edge at this point in time. Britain should assure I ran that it does not wish to have ANY conflicts with Iran, and indeed would hope that the two countries could form stronger relations. Mr. Blair's approach so far, may only be offending Iran. There is little point in doing that, especially as they have already chosen to accept UN snactions for going ahead with they electricity programs.

Em Hawthorne, London, UK

Commodore Lambert and his 31 strong "Maritime Battle Staff" took over Gulf naval command from the US only a few weeks ago and already we have this complete debacle.
Perhaps it is time to remind RN Flag Officers that they should follow in the tradition of Admiral Nelson not Admiral Byng.

Baz, Cambridgeshire, U.K.

For goodness sake stop banging on about Hitler, Chamberlain the 'thirties and Thatcher. Now is a completely different environment. If your man Adolf had a nuke in '39, actually if there were even nukes in '39 things would have been different. Churchill was obviously an incredible leader, but today, right or wrong, he would have been classed as a racist bigot ok? Live in the present huh?

Nonplussed , London, Londinium

Londoner

Very dissapointing post mate.

That whole orange shackle enemy combatant garbage is sad. Guantanamo is right or wrong but our soldiers are not "enemy combatants", the Geneva convention applies to them in FULL. They were never spies (uniform) and apparently they were'nt even in Iranian waters. Why say what you say dude? Why are you so bitter?

Nonplussed , London, Londinium

JC, Spring Lake, USA is quite right. For one thing, women can only be a hindrance in a tense, potentially lethal confrontation, and for another, why were Royal Navy personnel, on a risky mission close to Iranian gunboats in a volatile region, 'lightly armed' and out of sight of their ship? Why weren't they armed to the teeth and backed up by helicopter gunships?

Nations like Iran fear that approach a lot more than they respect weakness and diplomacy. Now we're in the ludicrous position of negotiating with idiots who seriously expect the world to believe the letters purportedly written by helpless hostages.

While the UN and the 'EU' are debating Iran's obvious nuclear aspirations, I confidently expect to wake up one morning to hear that Israel has solved the problem for us. After all, Israel is realistic enough to know that it has no choice. A nuclear capable Iran is unthinkable.

j griffiths, manchester, england

Everyday is looks more and more like we are reliving the '30s again. This time it is not Germany that is making a mockery of International Law. Hopefully someone will finally grow a pair and stand up to "Adolf" Ahmadinejad. He himself, in several interview believes he is to prepare the way for the "12" Iman. Don't know about you kiddies but that doesn't bode well for the rest of the world.

Doug , Las Vegas, USA/Nevada

I have been reading all the comments coming from various countries. Most of the ones coming from the U.S. are suggesting the utter destruction of Iran.
But I can only sit back and grin at some of the online military advise being given to the British.
If all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail.

HJr, Toronto, Canada

Why haven't we heard anything about the position of the Indian boat? They should have accurate GPS coordinates to validate the fact they weren't in Iranian water.

Brian S, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

After all the military escesses and internation law breaking committed by the coalition of the willing, it is not surprising Iran is feeding them a bit of their own medicine. The US and Britain use their power to regularly treat people of other nations with contempt and this is a rare backlash which it would be too reckless to hope they will learn from.

Neil Millard, London,

War to make oil cheap? More rhetoric for those who are too whimpy to stand up for what is right. Oil prices in the U.S. were already cheap before the invasion started. Prices are now triple.

So please try...just try...to use your head before claiming that this is a wall for oil.

Chris, New York, NY

Just how hard is Iran laughing at this moment? They have the magnificent British Navy by family jewels and they know they can do anything they want. The question is, how much humiliation can the English take? Sadly, the famed "stiff upper lip" attitude the world has looked up to for decades, has been replaced by the "quivering chin" due to an infestation of left wing liberals. To the real Brits who still have a backbone, I ask, what would Winston Churchill do at this moment in history? Methinks we all know!

Bill, Boston, Mass.

Its time to put Iran out of our misery!

James Fuller, Fishers, Indiana USA

'Londoner'...that's London as in the capital city of the UK, is it? You wouldn't think so with the garbage that you spout.

Unless, of course, you're referring to the Revolutionary Guard when you say 'trespassers' (which is how one really spells it)? They're the ones who encroached on another country's territory.

Mancunian, Manchester, UK

I think Starling from Lancaster always posts a sensible point. Keep it up hun.

Nonplussed , London, Londinium

I say hold the tresspassers for 5 years, put them in orange boiler suits and shackles. A befitting trubute for enemy combatants.

Londoner, London, UK

This is an unfortunate turn of events for our British cousins. Thank you to all in the UK for your tremendous sacrifices on behalf of world peace and stability. The thoughts and prayers of the American people are with these marines, sailors and their families.

Justin Pettis, Olympia, WA - USA

Seeing that Iran is ignoring the U.N. by continuing with its nuclear programme, why shouldn't the British block access to and from Iran via any sea vessel until the issue is resolved? The U.N. is not preventing Iran so it should not prevent Britain either.

Anonymouse, Suffolk, UK

Iran should be given an ultimatum to release the sailors in X days without condition, or the UK with US aid should blockage the country and disable its only gasoline refinery. Time to learn that talking only gets you so far unltss there's a credible and forceful threat sitting offstage in the wings. I'm saddened that the UK, with such a history of duty, honor and courage, has been reduced to a country chock'd full of whining subjects who blame everyone but the perpetrators first.

H. Tuttle, New York, NY

I am really surprised to hear Brits talking about the US the way they do in these comments. The US has ALWAYS taken your backs, and you have always been there when we needed you. So what has changed. Islamic Terrorist's. We need to stand up to this threat together and stay focused on the goal. Look at what they are costing us. OUR FREEDOM. We travel in fear. Prices are higher on everthing. We fear for our children and they are vulernable. We are not war mongers. We did not ask for this fight. IT WAS brought to us. Don't you think Blair and Bush know a whole lot more than we do. They have access to highly secreative information that they cannot share. I am sick of listening to you passive winers that believe Iran will sit and negoiate...that is not going to happen. They are stalling for time to get their nuke and believe me when I say this they will not hesitate to use it! We will all be held hostage. But the French are there to help us...or is it the Russians?

John, Atlanta , Georgia USA

I cant help but not think if this were the U.S. Navy Seals that the shoe would be on the other foot. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards would be in our custody, with many casualties being on there side. The Royal Navy needs to arm their people with the proper weapons, proper training and do not bring women on these types of missions.
There is an old saying - You don't bring a knife to a gun fight

JC, Spring Lake, USA

Newt Gingrich said it best, give the Iranians 30 days to release the Brits, if they don't bomb their only gasoline refinery. Then blockaide the country so no gas gets in. Let them sit for six months with no gasoline. This will undoubtably result in a regime change. I could care less if we turned the entire gulf to glass and its inhabitants to ash.

The Iranians are sadly mistaken if they think they can beat us in a fight.

Tony, New milford, NJ, USA

If you Yanks love the Poodle so much then please take him then us civilised people in the UK can get on without being dragged into wars designed to keep you Yanks in cheap oil. Better still send Bliar out to Iraq to do his own fighting.

Dave Fletcher, Westbury, UK

Incredible that our brave servicemen and women should be exposed in this way; if the sea was too shallow for HMS Cornwall to keep close to them with good visual contact, at least a helicopter gunship should be providing air cover, or like the Iranian's they should be provided with shallow draft boats with machine guns etc. The Minister of Defence should resign and the Conservative Party be making a proper fuss about further budget cuts to our armed forces.

Richard James, London @ Prague,

Well... if the RIB's can be considered warships, they should be protected unter United Nations Convention Law of the Sea Part II Section 3 Article 30, defining warships and stating that they may only be EXTRACTED from another nations territorial waters (and even that only if they failed to comply with requests to leave)

Or am I missing something important here?

G. Caprivi, Wellington, New Zaaland

All the countries who bang on the drum of "democracy" should take a good look at the U.N.
U.N. general assembly is made up of more than 180 countries with each country having exactly one vote. This means that a vote by a country like China with one quarter population of the Earth has equal value to the vote by Burkina-Fasso. But that's not the only problem. The resolutions passed by the U.N. General Assembly are non-binding. That means they are mere suggestions for solving world problems.
The only vote that is binding is the U.N. Security Council vote made up of 5 permanent members (U.K, U.S. France, China and Russia) along with 10 rotating members. The 5 countries I mentioned have veto power and the rest don't.
No wonder most binding U.N. resolutions are passed against third world countries. I am not even going to mention the arm-twisting that goes on behind the scenes.
In other words these 5 countries are the judge and the executioner. The U.N. needs to be democratized

Arsan, NY, NY

I feel in a time of "equal rights" the media should give equal cover to all 15 hostages,not just one and her family !!! they are all captive !! I also feel Tony Blair is using the correct balance of patience & strength

Barbara , Barnsley, South Yorkshire

the U.S. & U.K. need to take Immediate action, make it swift and powerful without any room for mistake on the next course of action...

US Ranger2, Pasadena,

Regarding the 2004 incident- "They had antiaircarft guns, we stood no chance". Response: Shoot the aircraft gunners first! It will usually surprize (and scare) them that they are actually being fired at when they were hoping their big guns would intimidate their prey into not resisting.

During the Vietnam war an American pilot threw away his revolver and surrendered to a VC who had an Ak-47 slung across his back. He said "What can a .38 do against an AK-47?" In any gunfight, it's the bullet that hits first that determines the outcome!!!

Patrick, Everett, USA

I am quite clear that Britain is in the right in this specific instance. But we are wrong in the broader foreign policy context: the invasion on Iraq, our support of Israel's hugely destructive war on Lebanon, our refusal to deal with the elected government of Palestine, and deliberate fuelling of rivalry between the Palestian Presidency and Government, our pursuit of a new generation of Trident nuclear weapons, our refusal to accept Iran's nuclear ambitions contrasted to our silence over Israel's considerable nuclear capability ... this is why we are wrong footed and failing to win the support we deserve on this matter in the Security Council. We need to develop a wholly new foreign policy, and one that does not consist mainly of following the US lead no matter how crass.

Oliver Tickell, Oxford, Oxon

I cannot believe that the leading seaman was t he most senior rate in this operation,were there no sergeants or petty officers

jim flynn, edinburgh, scotland

Within such a short time we have fantastic satellite imagery of the incident. While I look forward to our troops being returned to us safely without harm. Is anyone else wondering why, when the Iranians capture our troops they have more visibility than say when the US capture Iranian diplomats who have gone 'missing'. More importantly, I guess the reason we did not get this same level of detail on evidence before the Iraq invasion was because if the same standard of care was given to the claims of Iraq and WMD we wouldn't have a leg to stand on in justifying the war.

As to the Iranians, stop being foolish and return our troops. If you start playing games like this you wil eventually get a reputation like that of the US, and lets face it, one global power acting like dweebs is one too many!

Farrukh, Woking, UK

get in and get them out before they get beheaded , these people are not to be trusted

mike, sheffield,

Jamshid, Tehran, Iran,

Best keep your Eye on the Sky, my friend. Your country's time is coming.

Ryan, Indy, Indiana

Pierre in Nantes.

Considering that France is relegated to trolling comments sections...I think we can disregard you!

Matt, London,

Question : after Iran will be bombing, witch country will be next ?

jojo, paris, france

It is so sad to see Iran being patronised by such poorly educated rulers. Not only their universities and people have to suffer, their ministries even have to act on badly equipped minds. Long time passed to play cat and mouse. Someone has asked to be put right by the first one coming along.

Andrew, Midlands, UK

jim/houston: read the article again...they weren't 1800' from shore...your talking just over 1/4 of a mile...think about it...they said the 2 iranian boats were 1800 yds from where the UK troops were...as long as they were in international waters (which the UK has proven and only the foolish don't believe) the iranians were out of line...thats why they sent 4 heavily armed boats against 2 small inflatables.

Chris, Texas, USA

I'm sure I'll get flamed for replying but I feel that this IS in response to the 5 Iranians captured by the U.S. I do now and will always back the UK in whatever action they deem necessary to get the return of their servicemen (and woman). We should be able to live in a world without the worry of war, crime, etc. but it will always be here in some form or fashion and as a former Navy sailor I'm praying for the safe return of these people.

Chris, Texas, USA

so many muslims who voice their opinions on news shows or the like, use the 'you did this, so were gonna do this' vengance argument. Jamshid, Tehran, Iran for example.

what iran has done is wrong, no matter what they think britain is doing in iraq. i wish all this people would stop referring back to what they think are previous wrongs by the britiah and americans. if the britsh began to act like this then all hell would break lose, if the roles were reversed then iran would probably attack iraq. this non diplomatic squabbling that non dimplomatic countries and governments embark on is the reason behind so many deaths in iraq and palastine.

chris, leeds, england

The time for action is now - especially as the Russians are now backing away form helping us. Seems to me the only real way of getting these British citizens out of Iran is to send it the SAS and free them by force. Or hasn't Blair got the nerve of his predecessors?

I appreciate that they aren't being held hostage in London, where they're easily accessible, but we have the capability to set them free and we should use it, before they come home in body bags. Good to see Margaret Beckett has grown so much from being a dismal local Derbyshire MP, to being a dismal Foreign Secretary. What idiot promoted her? She has no spine and no ability to take the Iranian's on at their own game. Maybe we should detain the Ambassador in London for the crime of living on UK soil until our troops are set free.

Neil J, Derby, Derbyshire

Derek - San Diego.... cherry picking is one thing, but your comment is unbelievable, laughable and incredibly naive.... you say only the US ever steps in... the US, along with the rest of the powers that be, UK included, ONLY step in when it suits them and their agendas... remember Timor, Cambodia, Ma Lai, too numerous to mention Israeli massacres of various people, and many many other places which should never be forgotten... but will be... If the US and the UK are so much the leaders in world democracy, then why do they only pick causes that benefit them...acceptance of the undeniable Armenian genocide.. oops, no, that would upset the turks, current situation in Zimbabwe, Somalia, etc, etc... oh no, there's no material wealth in doing somenthing there, such as oil maybe? Is it also the sign of a true democratic country when a president realises his corruption, illegal activities are maybe about to be found out, so changes the law... Mr Bush.....

Exiled Englishman, Zurich,

This political posturing is dumb.
No one believes what the hostages say in public as we all know that they are forced to do so. I believe all hostages should comply with their captors, say what is wanted then when released just get on with their life .eventually the hostage takers may realise that they are setting themselves up as pretty stupid for believing their own rhetoric.
All Trade with Iran should cease immediately , governments should compensate companies for lost trade and we should isolate these dumb dorks and for goodness sake stop selling them the armaments the abuse us with

Michael Wilkinson, Telford, shropshire / UK

I think Jamshid, you are right, you were far better off under your dictator, fewer people died and we didn't have to get involved at all- Somehow we were told that there was a threat to us- a 45 minute threat of chemical weapons but that has been shown not to have existed.
Through all of this there are innocent people in our country and yours, who do not make the decisions and do not take part.
Though your people are suffering, what can we ordinary people do? We are all powerless, except at least we all now have a chance to use our democratic vote

Rod, London, UK

The Iranian regime, not the people, want a fight - do not give it to them - keep cool - and calculated. Please use this incident to re-build relationships between UK and Iran - even at the expense of narrow US interests.
I am sorry to say that after reading the comments above - it startles me to read majority of US responses believe bombing is the answer to all solutions. As a Brit, I fear to say we may have more in common with the people of Iran than the US in terms of peace, sacrifice, fortitude and humanity. This is not about religion- Islam and Christainity are bound together. Violence is not an answer -whether in domestic affairs or indeed national interests. Use the bomb money for industry at home forget about blockades - build trade and goodwill.
The Navy personnel are in perfect order - say no more.
Blair you are right on this occasion but your hypocracy knows no bounds- this is your opportunity to show humility and give your departure/book a happy ending.

Adrian, Saint Petersburg,

To Jamshid , who thinks that "thanks to the US & UK & their coalition of the willing, over 100 innocent people get killed in Iraq every day": a key reason why so many people are being killed is that Iran is sponsoring murderous terrorist insurgents, in a depressingly blatant attempt to scupper any hope of a good outcome.

Jonathan, London, UK

What angers me about this whole thing is that the British was doing a job for the UN, not for our benefit yet it takes the UN 6 days to do something, frankly i wished Blair would get our troops out of the area, it is nothing to do with the UK and why the US have to get involved in dealing with thing that don't concern them i will never know, they say it's a war on terror, more like to get their hands on the oil, ten of thousands of people have been killed in Iraq during the US/UK occupation, the same sort of number that got killed under Saddam, why not just pull all the troops out and let the Iraqi people sort it out themselves, i'm just pleased that the Iranians didn't try and arrest some Yanks because now we would be at the start of another war which is all Bush wants, Iran are in my opinion doing this to test the west and to gain some popularity with their own people, but they in my opinion have lied from the first minute with wrong coordinates etc, lets hope for peace in the area.

A W WOOD, cleethorpes, UK

I think "twayapeh, Singapore" is completely right and international community must focus on Iranian government and try not to harm the poor people, god knows that we mostly do not support our government's policies but as Iran is not a democratic country we do not have any forces to stop them just have to wait and see how we are being humiliated globally. Please do not watch that few people holding placards asking Britons to be executed they are government's paid people.
Also I am wondering why EU countries do not cut all economic ties with Iran in their soonest to push these crazy leaders understand they can not do whatever they want to.
Hope the Britons would be freed safely and ASAP.

Karim, Tehran, Iran

Mr. "proud" Jamshid, of Tehran, Iran: How's life under the thumb of an ayatollah? Can't say I envy your position. Infallibility. Something you or Iran shouldn't pretend to have.

Gawd, Sacramento, CA

It sounds to me that the Iranians are asking UK to "stop beating your wife!"

Jeff Crawford, Altdorf, Germany

The Persians were a great race previous to being conquered by islam. Now their thinking has been narrowed to such a point because of it that they perceive us as mortal enemies. The opposite is true, so they must be made to understand they are following the wrong path & if they opened their eyes they would see their destination is not where they want to end up.....

Dave, Sydney, Australia

Depending on the UN to assist getting its sailors and marines back , is another mistake Britain made. They may well have to go around the UN now and take them back by force, dicey as that may be.

Such is the cost of trying to act civilized with a retrograde nation.

T. Gray, San Diego,

It is not fair to sustain that Americans, British and Iranians should all simply "get along", "forget their grievances" and start cooperating as if they were equals. They are not. The Americans with the help of thier British aid-de-camps are causing a lot more trouble than they are solving. Whet are they doing in Iraqui watrs in the first place? What are they doing in that region at all? Evident vested interests prevent the rest of the world from swallowing up that they are noble freedom fighters. In any case, we lating amiericans have every reason not to be that naïve.

Adrian Deserventi, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Can't we all get along? Group hug!

Garrett Calhoun, Seattle,

Ii is common knowledge internationally that Iran deliberately creates incidences to highlight their disregard for the Western powers and show their allies that they can do what they want and get away with it. It is a very difficult situation for Britain and the USA who quite naturally do not wish to inflame this obvious provocation. The consequences of passive reaction by the international community will only encourage Iran into planning further outrages. Its only a matter of time. In my view a tough stance needs to be taken against the Iranian leadership. The fine Iranian people are not responsible, its the leadership that insists on playing this highly dangerous confrontational game. They think in terms of leverage and bargaining chips. The Iranian leadership views the international community like the old time harem eunuchs with bleating protests but no action. The animosity shown to Mess. Bush and Blair by their own nationials for tackling Saddam allows Iran this freedom.

twayapeh, singapore,

Jamshid,

The peoples of the world need to move past ancient grievances. Otherwise there will be no peace.

Ken Miller, Seattle, USA

Jamshid,

I agree as an American that the UK (we fought them once as well) is not all roses, but as the USA and UK now get along it would be nice if the USA and IRAN and UK could all get along. Working together we all benifit, apart we just end up getting killed in new and more horrible ways. We all have enough weapons to blow this planet up several times, but if we do that I think we have missed the point. As much as Iran seems to hate the US and vice versa you did make a point. We are all red blooded humans and need to learn to get along, for if we fight the only winners will be the maggots and the flies. I for one would like to visit the middle east without fear of being killed mutilated beat up or shot just for being an American. I am pretty sure you as an Iranian can come here without that fear. In fact just about anyone can. Let us stop the escalation and fight like humans, with our brains and intelligence, otherwise we are nobetter than savages and animals.

Sean, Austin, USA/Texas

With a large majority of American readers being that we British have become soft due to the fact that we choose to think with our heads (that are thankfully housing brains with a cellcount higher than TWO!) I am left with further doubt that this will not only escalate into a war, but also that it will be instigated through pressure from the Americans. We Brits like to do things our way so leave us be...I really do hope this political alliance between America and Britain ends with the careers of Bush and Blair!

SUNNY, Birmingham , England

"It's a pity that Britain's actions in Iraq means that it has lost the right to refer to international law.

joe, brussels, belgium"

Dude, you serious? What exactly has international law benfited? People are slaughtered all over the world especially in Africa, yet the "international" response is nill. Only the US helps in those conflicts, yet we're always vilified.

Derek, San Diego, CA

I think I speak for a lot of Americans who will support the British what ever they decide. I hope and pray for the best.

Patrick Mulrain, Tomah, Wisconsin

So we [Britain] decide [or are forced] to help the US in invading Irag, at great expense to life and economy, and the US cannot even help us with this situation. 'Who is this America?'

Graz McLeish, Chengdu, China

Thanks to the US & UK & their coalition of the willing, over 100 innocent people get killed in Iraq every day. I guess they are not considered human beings in your western lexicon & moral compass. You care about 15 millitary personnel who asked for trouble by following their unwise government's plots to infiltrate Iranian territory, and to instigate trouble in the oilfields and surrounding areas in south western Iran.
For those who may actually read my humble words, I say this: we Iranians are a proud bunch, and we will never accept the oppression & suppression that you (the west) have imposed on the rest of the middle east. For once in your lifetime, go and read the facts in the history of Iran-Britain relationship in the last 200 years to see the crimes that the Brits have committed against us, least of which is the coup detat against the popularly & democratically elected government of Dr. Mossadegh. No red-blooded Iranian will ever forget your injustices & crimes.

Jamshid, Tehran, Iran

All the stories that were told of Kings and days of old, but there's no England anymore... Ray Davies

Phil, Fair Oaks, California, USA

Obviously many in US/UK believe in their overwhelming military superiority. Otherwise most people would think twice about suggesting similar attack when US was going around sniffing China. This is going to be another Hezbollah vs Israel type outcome if we are still interested in confirming the facts on the ground. The rules of the game have changed.

AK, Boston, US

I'm sorry but I am getting pretty sick of the gung-ho attitudes of some Yanks, and indeed some of our own people. If there were no threat of retalliation (including an increased terrorist threat) and a guarantee that we'd get our soldiers back and civillians would not be hurt, then I would back us going in, but that is just not the case. We live in dangerous times and I have to admit the situation with our captured troops does worry me, and I do think that the Iranian government is trying to bait us into retaliating, but I think for the sake of all of us we should not. However I am fearful that this may land up with a military answer rather than a diplomatic one, especially as thanks to Mr Putin we have not even got a strong condemnation from the UN, which almost makes it sound like Iran have a right to hold and parade our people for propaganda purposes.

I just hope this can all be resloved soon without force for all our sakes.

B.A.D-H, Fareham, UK

I feel so heartbroken inside writing these thoughts but, this incident really brings home the fact that we in the US should become isolationist. The US does not have the ability to do this alone and we should'nt be trying to do it with a UK contingent that seems so european in the feminine sense of the word. I guess thats the heart-wrenching part for me. As a typical former member of the US Navy I hold the royal navy in tremendous esteem and can't believe my eyes when I see how the senior service has become an embarassment to it's history. The real kicker is that they are the best europe has, and their performance from the c.o. to the sailors and marines who were allowing themselves to be videoed like it was no big deal is horrific . I guess they were broken without being bruised in less than 48 hours.

Tim, Wappingers Falls, NY,USA

When did the sissies start running England?
WHere's Gordon or Clive or Montgomery?
Grow some Nads!
Remember your past!

Helen McCaffrey, Cape May Court House, NJ

Of course Blair has adopted a wimpish response to what most other countries would consider an act of war by the Iranians - he hasn't been given his orders by Bush...

Can you imagine Maggie Thatcher bleating pathetically about "how unfair" it all is?

Chris Bradbury, London, England

My prayers and my friends' prayers are with your leadership and with the hostages. If we could get Jill Carroll and others home, we can get your people home too. With much love for all of you,

Rosalie Dunbar, Dracut, Massachusetts, USA

And where is the UN or the Left? Yet another example of why International Law only works against the west and Not the rest of the world. Un-real.

Tj, Detroit, Michigan

The British have always adopted a 'minimalist approach to the use of force' in this area; this incident will not help the Iranian cause. God bless our service men and woman who are putting their lives on the line out there, day in, day out....

Mark, Derby, England

Western countries such as the (US and Britain itself probably) hold innocent prisoners themselves. Unfortuantely, these prisoners will never get the coverage, support and condemnation of the countries which are detaining them as the British marines will. All these countries are as bad as eachother, each with their own agendas.

'terrorists, al Quaeda, the middle east, Iran, extremists, Bush, oil... ' blah blah blah

I wish the media would focus on tragedies which are actually the most evil and biggest threat to humanity in terms of human life, such as poverty, war and greed. There are so many untold stories all over the world which need coverage. I wish the western media would start reporting more on the real issues, the world's untold stories.

Sheeva, London,

Armchairdinnerjacket Is Behind This I,m Sure
But The British Navy Must Guard Our Sailors With Heavy
Guns In Future,My Grandson was Nearly Posted On This Ship,Many Of His Friends And Mates are Among H.m.s
Cornwall Personel.
I Think This Could Have Been Dealt With A Different Way
The U.K Government Has Embarrased Us All.

Thomas Denny, Surbiton, Surrey,uk

Seeing Iran renege on their promise of releasing one of our Navy personnel, isnt it time we started looking at options to retrieve our people?

It seems Iran will not comply with diplomatic measures, these Navy are our people, we should be protecting them as they protect us. As they were doing nothing wrong and they have been illegally seized, cant we do something more than politely ask for them back...pretty please.

We should have concern for their safety every second they are in that country. Furthermore arent we at the stage where we could give personnel devices allowing us to track their location? if these devices worked at short range and could not be tampered with, we could have located and retrieved our people by now.

Craig, Pueblo/Telford, USA/UK

The Iran/Iraq maritime boundary shown on the British government map does not exist. It has been drawn up by the British Government. Only Iraq and Iran can agree their bilateral boundary, and they never have done this in the Gulf, only inside the Shatt because there it is the land border too. This published boundary is a fake with no legal force.

Accepting the British coordinates for the position of both HMS Cornwall and the incident, both were closer to Iranian land than Iraqi land. Go on, print out the map and measure it. Which underlines the point that the British produced border is not a reliable one.


look here:
http://www.craigmurray.co.uk/

nick, Hereford,

Anyone notice how the price of oil jumped once this crisis happened? The Iranians are having a difficult time financing a lot of their oil projects due to the international santions that have been placed on them because they refuse to stop their nuclear program. I believe this is just a way for the Iranians to get more money for their oil, by starting a new crisis they drive up the price of oil by scaring investors.

Mike, San Diego, California

The way out is so simple it's laughable.
All Blair has to do is say sorry to Iran and apologise for being in Iranian territorial waters.
The Iranians will have to release the British personnel or lose their standing in the Arab world.

When the Brits are back on-board the Iranians are told in crystal clear language that should they try this again they will be met with overwhelming force in the defence of British ships, personnel and their rights to inspect suspected gun runners.

Does Blair & Britain lose face?
A little.

Does Iran & its President lose face?
A lot.

A win win.
We as a nation then need to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan as quickly as is humanly possible as we are doing little good in either country IMHO.

Derek Fisher, Barrow-in-Furness, UK

As an Iranian who is more American than Iranian now, I want to be the first to apologize for a bunch of aggressive and over the top behavior that the Iranian guard has demonstrated. I will not defend my former country men here in their actions. But for those who are interested in history I will have to stay that the presence of the British so close to the borders Iran-Iraq is enough to make the most comfortable Iranian Jumpy. After all three quarter million Iranian died protecting these merkey watery borders!! That said, I also think this has more to do with the Iranian guard trying to recoup their fellow soilders from the American how ever they can.. apparently even at the cost of starting a war! Iranians as a whole will suffer for this!! sanctions will destroy the weak econonmy of Iran, let alone a war!

Marjan, Albuquerque, New Mexico/ US

"Although the seizure has been widely linked to the taking of five Iranians by US forces in Iraq, Iranian diplomats have ruled this out. They say that there is no relation between the Britons’ seizure and any other bilateral, regional or international issue."

The link was first postulated by Francis Harrison of the BBC from Tehran minutes after their capture. She continued to report her speculation for some time and, after a while, some Iranian internet sites picked up on it as well. Why she did is anybody's guess. She may have been trying to blame the US for the Britons’ seizure because apparently, Iran is never to blame for its actions. It must somehow be the fault of the US. Never mind that Iran had done the same thing only two years ago.

But don't worry. At least they are safe. They will soon release the female member of the group, Faye Turney, because she doesn't have any balls. They will release the others soon after for the same reason.

Johannes, Bangkok, Thailand

"It's the Crude, Dude: War, Big Oil and the Fight for the Planet" is a book written by Canadian journalist Linda Mcquaig and should be required reading for any US or UK kid who is contemplating joining the military.

Gary, Rancho Santa Fe, CA, USA

I agree with some of the post here, the Royal Navy I believe did not provide adequate back up to these sailors ,they were also only armed with small arms, they have been badly let down, but they are most certainly not cowards! To have thrown their lives away needlessly would have been stupid.
I believe we have to go down the diplomatic route and if that fails, then a Naval and air blockade should ensue.
Underestimate the British at your peril, remember the Falklands? We usually lose the first battle we rarely lose the last!
But hopefully common sense will prevail.

Dave, Rugby, Warwickshire

Some interesting comments. In reply to the anti English/US ones, if the iranian people are so innocent why when i watched a RELIGIOUS DOCUMENTARY called "once upon a time in iran" did it contain hundreds of everyday working iranians side by side hundreds of ski mask wearing AK47 weilding maniacs at a religious celebration.
1. At church in England we dont carry machine guns.
2. We dont call for the slaughter of iranian or iraqi people.
3. Our police force would arrest anyone doing either of the above.
I saw no police stopping the people on iranian TV calling for the exicution of 15 unarmed soldiers. I dont believe we should have invaded iraq or had the right to. But lets not forget saddam murderd thousands and no middle east country helped the iraqi people. Nor was iran so concerned for the people of iraq when the fought for 8 years during the persian gulf war.

Jack Graham, Leeds, England,

To Neil Hague, I don't think thats the most educated response I have ever read, but perhaps you should account for the possibility that this woman is being threatened with certain reprecussions for not wearing a hajib. I would much rather wear a head scarf than be forced to undergo torture to be honest.

With regard to Tony Blairs stance, I would say, and I'm sure the families of those captured would agree, that our aim is to return these men and women alive. Thats how diplomacy works in these cases. I don't think we want to kick off a third war in the middle east in 15 years, or I would hope not.

What I would question is, if this sort of tactic has been used by the iranians before, is there not a more tactically strong method for disembarking an ship, without 'being left vulnerable'?

Dave, Sheffield,

What's this nonsense about "Iraqi waters" when the border has not been determined and the area is disputed?

hass, New York, USA

What are you guys doing there so far away from home. Last I checked this is Iran's neighborhood

Jmbo, Washington, DC, USA

It is high time that the UK showed these cowards what it is made of. It is distressing that the response so far does not do merit to the legacy of this great country.

Asim Khan, Bronxville, Pakistan

Once we have an EU constitution and a combined army would we be there anyway?

Anon, CHICHESTER,

THe Brits should immediately break off all diplomatic ties and give the Iranians 1 day to give up the hostages and if not kick some ass till they do - Nothing says please better than a little strategic bombing.

John Higgins, Ottawa, Canada

How is this a war zone ?

Because it is near an OCCUPIED country ? Does that mean France is a war zone, being near Germany ? Is Okinawa a war zone ? Words have specific meanings, to get the correct meaning, use the right word.

And, aren't maritime boundaries disputed all over the world ? China/Japan, U.S./Canada, India/Bangladesh. There's just not WARSHIPS flitting around these other disputed borders.

Tom, Smallville,

What the British need is another Sir Robert Napier solution vis-a-vis Meqdela & Theodore II. At the very least blockade is in order and it has the added benefit of possibly forcing the Iranians to reveal their pre-positioned Silkworms prior to the unavoidable US carrier strikes-marine invasion--none of which would be necessary if the US had not destabilized the region by replacing Sadam with the GOP war profiteers in the first place.

CNH, Houston, USA

Look let me repeat this again for people like Narsi who are apparently not that informed and keep blaming the US and UK for Iran's bad behavior.

Again, there was a little thing called the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein. Remember??? The US kicked Saddam's butt out of there, but stopped short of hanging Saddam Hussein back then and called a cease-fire, predicated on Saddam's good behavior, as judged by the US. We were nice enough to give him a second chance.

Years later, and after countless broken UN resolutions by Iraq, we decided such good behavior never materialised and revoked the cease fire and finished what we should have finished a long time ago. We weren't in the mood to mess around with Saddam's little games anymore. In addition, the UN voted on resolutions vowing to hold Saddam accountable. What is illegal about that? It is all perfectly "legal" but instead you want to defend the lovely Iranian regime. Grow up and use some common sense.

sc, Atlanta, USA

A boarding party, under armed, poorly equipped and nowadays, poorly trained in self-defence, (Royal Marines excluded) is dispatched by a lone, outdated warship, out of sight on a disputed border, in a war zone. The party is then corralled by the small flotilla of a third class navy and made hostages, principally because of the expectation that the country concerned will be too weak willed to respond with any serious measure of force. That country’s purported finest- a young (single?) mother, having been made to wear native clothing is then paraded, in a farcical show, were she sheepishly pays lip service and sympathy to her kidnappers and precisely as predicted by the dim-witted aggressors the even more dim-witted bRITISH Government does and threatens almost nothing. This is an absolute outrage- an unmitigated disgrace. The culmination of years of societal ideals and policies manifested at the front line. Heads must roll, starting with Blair, Britain should be ashamed.

Richard Molloy, Dallas, Texas/USA

Having worked over the past thirty years with the Arabs in and around the Gulf, I am still surprised that the UK and USA have not understood the mentality of those that inhabit the area.
They take pride in being arrogantly ignorant when dealing with other peoples.
I am a Jew, I take pride in listening to the sound of the music of each Country that I have visited.
Whilst it is not down to me, I would pull out of Iraq, Afghanistan, and the EU.
Easy to say, but not easy to do.
It is the fault of previous Governments that we face the problem's.In the opening of our borders. Our National security became a figment of imagination and memory, in which ever order you wish.

Alan Burdes, London, England

It's all so very simple>
ThIs British appeasing government IS NOT FIT FOR PUPOSE. Any purpose.
For God's sake will someone help my country.

Gordon, Worthing, UK

It is clear that Britain should now up the ante through a number of nasty and insidious methods to remind Iran that they will pay a heavy price for their act of piracy. The alternative of limited force is unavailable due to the underfunding of our armed forces by Tony Blair and (the notably silent) Gordon Brown.

It is unlikely that the sailors will be released and we should prepare for a show trial and imprisonment. If our government had any courage, this act should be seen as a casus belli.

If no release is forthcoming, Basra and the southern Iraqi provinces should be scourged of Iranian agents. They can be deported, imprisoned or killed. Leave the choice up to them. We should also start to fund opposition in the country with the stated aim of overthrowing this vile regime.

Bring home to the Revolutionary Guards that escalation has a price!

Philip Chaston, London, UK

The sailors got rid of their GPS device? Why? If they were in Iraqi waters the device would have shown this. Why get rid of the GPS unit - unless they were in Iranian waters ...

sadsds, Birmingham, UK

You have let your navy get too soft, i.e: underequipped. It's not the first time: remember the Falklands, the lack of effective air defence...what was it then, Sea Dart missles when the navy needed Phalanx? I'm relatively sure the training is there, very British to be good at that, but not the spending and political will (AKA Rules of Engagement). Sad. And they'll have nukes next time. No more peace dividend...

Doogle, Rennes, France

In this article, I notice that the incident was described only as happening "... in Iraqi waters...". In other words, Dominic Kennedy, you are trying to manouvre the truth out of the Shaat al Arab where the seizure took place.

Actually, the Shaat al Arab is nothing more than a river estuary and, as you admit, "...it was in shallow waters...". What is more significant, though, is that it was an area siezed by Saddam Hussein in the 1970's which originally was in Iranian control anyway.

How precious then to say that Britain and the US are there to "free" everybody from Saddam's dictatorship but then to refuse to return siezed territories to Iran. Or, to put it another way, given that fact, for Britain to then assert control of the Shaat al Arab is tantamount to a declaration of war against Iran.

Douglas Chalmers, Melbourne, Australia

Britain and Usa are not able to take on Iran alongside iraq and afghanistan, their troops are stretched to the limit in afghanistan. And in Iraq the US struggle to control the capital.

Iran simply cannot be attacked at this moment, acknowlged by the US senate and Tony Blair that it would not be "wise" to do so.

Personally Im just loving this stand off, because Iran does not care so much about diplomacy and the US and Britain are depleted.

Ahmed Hirsi, Burao, Somalia

As much as I, as an American, have lost respect for Tony Blair since 9/11 (due to his lapdog status with Dubya), at least he didn't send a high number of Her Majesty's Armed Forces to Iraq at the expense of protecting British interests around the world. Now, if Blair wants to ensure that his Labour Party, in the future, has the respect of the UK in foreign affairs, he'd prepare Her Majesty's equivalent of the US Special Forces to go to Tehran and ensure that Iran never abducts another British soldier or subject again.

If Dubya would only think like that...

Otis Boone, Sacramento, California, USA

Enough is Enough already. Obviously Iran wants a confict so give them want they want and get it over with already so the rest of the world can go back to living in peace. Where is the British courage? Weakness only will embolden this type of acts. If nothing is done about this it will only continue again.

mike, NJ, USA, NY

Blair is apparently not of the same calibre as Thatcher.

munro, hamburg, germany

Don't forget that Iran held american hostages for 444 days.

Thanks, Carter.

John, Lafayette, USA/Louisiana

1) Whether the Brits were in Iranian waters is irrelevent because, as someone said, a warship cannot lawfully be boarded.
2) Iran has publicly announced it wishes to annihilate Isreal and rid the earth of the Isreali nation.
3) The US will not be able to act or defend itself soon because the US presidency race will be won by those who wish to have a picnic where everyone holds hands and smiles at one another.
4) Iran questioned whether holocaust ever took place.
I guarantee that Iran does not wish to have peace with the West. It wants power and domination. It wants to forcably expand its beliefs globally. Iran will poke and prod until someone strikes back, causing a new world war, the likes we have never seen.
It's sad to see so many americans who do not understand the entire situation say that we should not be in the middle east. The sad reality is that WW2 has long been forgotten and the lessons that should have been learned are being forgotten.

mike, gumbo,

To all our friends in the UK, our thoughts and prayers are with you, your captured countrymen/women, and their families.

The time has come for a forceful response, standing up to these Iranian thugs. And we'll be right beside you, as you have been for us.

God bless.

Ross, Des Moines, Iowa, USA

Not if, but when (looking at the weekend of April 6th) Iran is attacked and a wider conflageration commences, then the Russians will sit back and smile. You see, 40% of the world's energy resources flow through the Gulf, which will almost certainly be closed. Russia's oil and natural gas exports will then replace this percentage, and Putin will have checkmated everyone.

I don't think you all realize how catastrophically stupid the US, UK and Israeli governments are being right about now...

Dan, Los Angeles, California

When will Britain, and the US for that matter, get serious about fighting this war? Shame on our governments and politicians for leaving our soldiers out on a limb. Our politicians are so cowardly, they are willing to sacrefice our soldiers for their own political convenience. Soon they will leave it up to the public to fight the enemy on our own. And we will.

Bee, Houston, TX

Why dont the captured British sailors show some 'Spunk'?for starters refuse to wear a scarf!refuse to eat, their captors would immediately start to feel fear!as for eating with plastic knives and forks,is this because of the westerner being Najess?I had a friend married to an Iranian Swiss educated Doctor and her family separated the crockery and cutlery from theirs after she had eaten from them .Continuous relentless pressure from the UK government will prevail.

olivebranch, brighton.Sussex, UK.

Iran has learned from the North Koreans how to pull a tantrum and force international engagement. Solana will be kissing and making up in no time. Jimmy Carter, call your office.

Michael Z, Chicago, IL, USA

"We want Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead." Spoken by Theodore Roosevelt.

bubba, seattle, wa

Great piece of reporting my friend. However, care to balance that with that the other side is saying? Remember, you guys said the same thing about Al Q and WMDs in Iraq?? By the way, whatever happened to Al Q? We miss them, get the CIA and MI5 to bring them back ..deal?

Deja Vu, York,

I was furious, but not surprised, when i heard about this incident, which in effect is an act of war. Furious at the iranians, but also the british government, MOD, & the CO's on HMS Cornwall, for letting our Marines down. The actions of the iranians should not have come as a surprise, considering all that has lead up to this, we've had plenty of warnings, we should have been alert & prepared & properly equiped to defend our service personel, But, oh no! as usual that age old british disease strikes once again, Mind Boggling Complacency !
So, some brief advice for our Senior Officers & Government.
Do not use defenceless inflatables at great distances from the main ship, especially when "you Know" there are hostiles in the area.
Better still go to V.T. ltd, (formerly Vosper Thorneycroft), (No i dont work for them), & order some New Gun Boats, some thing our Navy is lacking, which will have a shallow draught, & better firepower than the iranians, & be prepared to use them !!!

M. Prier, Basingstoke, Hant's, GB.

There have been dozens of comments made by American readers suggesting that the Royal Navy is incompetent and the British attitude to the intrusion into Iraqi waters by Iranian gunboats is lacking in backbone. The general thrust of the comments, it seems are that Britain should permit the Royal Navy to start W W 3.

Might I remind our friends across the Atlantic Ocean about the incident when an American spy plane was flying off mainland China when it was challenged by two CPR fighter aircraft. The US aicraft was forced to land, had it not it would have been shot out of the sky with the loss of 14 crew. The crew were held by China and accused of spying, which they were, it was a CIA plane.

Did the USA fire off any Patriot missiles into Beijing ! No !
Eventually the crew were released, the aircraft was completely stripped, important bits removed and the aircraft returned to the USA in crates.

Not much difference is there ? Just sit down and cool it.

Phil de Buquet, Newport, England

It's interesting to consider how the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan have given U.S. war planners open air corridors on both the east and west sides of Iran. Unchallenged overflight is a great tactical advantage for surprise and greatly increases the possible directions from which air strikes on Iran may originate. If UN coalition assets within Iraq and Afghanistan and the Gulf were utilized, a cruise missile / bomber strike could be off the ground and over targets inside Iran in a matter of minutes with sorties originating from multiple directions. Less time in the air equals less time for detection and even less for reaction. More directions yields more confusion.

To suggest that G.W.Bush didn't have Iran on his mind when he made the case to invade Iraq is a bit self-deceiving, I'd say. Iran has been THE rogue element in the Middle East for years. In my opinion, Iraq and Afghanistan are simply side shows, pretexts for establishing beachheads and precursors to the main event.

Thomas, Atlanta, GA, USA

Gentlemen,
When you address the Iranian government, please do not refer to them as "Iran". Iranian people have been trying to get rid this regime for a long time. But hefty contracts with Europeans kept them on their feet during 80s and 90s. Nobody cared how the people of Iran were treated during this time while Ayatollah Straw was laughing all the way to the bank.
I don't want to get into how the Mullahs got into power in 1979 but BBC and other European channels beaming down into Tehran on a note of 24 hours a day non-stop might have had something to do with. Suffice it to say that in 1978, 99% of Iranians had never heard of Khomeini. So now the same Mullahs are biting your behinds and you are all up in arms. Don't be yelling too hard. A cold shower will do. By the way if you like to have a piece of the Mullahs, by all means. Come and take them back to London. We will be glad to hand them all to you.
Oh, if it makes you feel better, I condemn this act along with many other acts.

Davoud, Houston, Texas

Still more majestic shalt thou rise
More dreadful from each foreign stroke

Chris Leger, New Hampshire, USA

I imagine the Indian ship captain can verify that the Iranians are lying. Or did we just miss the part where the Iranians arrested him for anchoring in Iranian waters? As a general rule, though, don't trust the people who dress up hostages and force them to read televised messages against their government. They're the people who don't have the facts on their side. How anyone could sympathize with such people is beyond me.

David, Arizona, USA

There are two interesting and conflicting analyses here:

1. The Ahmadinejad administration is losing political support at home following the collapse of their nuclear program and Russia's pulling back the fuel needed to develop weapons-grade material. Therefore, Ahmadinejad needs an enemy and, with the pride of his 1979 US Embassy hostages still brimming in his ego, felt like a few British sailors would fit that bill well. Doing nothing in this case may continue to forment the negative political forces within Iran to force the hand of the administration.

2. The Ahmadinejad administration has devolved operationally into a paranoid mess following the defection by several senior military and intelligence leaders to the US. The most extreme factions within the administration have literally resorted to kidnapping and extortion as their new "strategy" for diplomacy . In this case, we are dealing with Talibanesque leaders for whom direct conflict will become the likely option.

Anthony, Alpharetta, Georgia

The only problem with trying to be a nice guy is no one is scared of you. Want to win the War on Terror/ Make the bad guys understand that no matter what they do, we will track them down and hurt them worse. Make them understand what true terror is. If we give an inch, they will think they are winning and will escalate the violence towards the West. Look at their stated goals, nowhere does it say live in peace and help others.

Chance, Salina, KS

Being a former military man myself, who serviced in the British Army, doing active service in the Malayan Jungles during the 1950's, and as such I feel great sympathy for these UK Troops now taken prisoner... But I now ask; where was their back-up???? Surely someone failed badly in their line of duty not giving better protection, and allowing these Iranian hijackers to get anywhere near our troops, especially after a similar type capture took place previously... surely?????.....
One thing about this con trick, (even though so deploreable,) but it does help prove that these Iranian hijackers are just as devious when it comes to pulling con tricks as Chancellor Gordon Brown was, when he upped the lower rate of income tax (from 10% to 20% recently,) causing many in the lower wage bracket (in the UK,) to suffer more poverty /pay more in taxes surely????...

Stanley Embling, Scunthorpe , Lincolnshire, England....

1. British unmanned reconnaissance plane RPV violated Iranian airspace in northeastern Abadan in June 2004 and was hit by Iranian anti-aircraft guns. 2. On June 22, 2004, three British speed boats with eight navy personnel on board trespassed Iranian borders and were arrested by Iranian coast guards. 3. On November 1, 2006, two British Black awks (choppers) from Royal Navy hovered at the height of 150 meters at 47,700-17,400 coordinates on Khorramshahr map (Pole-No: new bridge) violating Iranian airspace and they entered Iraqi territory through 62,500-15,500 coordinates after 10 minutes. 4. On January 27, 2007 a British helicopter flew over mouth of Arvandrud (Arvand river) and violated Iran's airspace and they left the area after a warning from Iranian coast guards. 5. Three British Navy boats entered Khor Mousa mouth in Iranian territorial waters on February 28, 2007. 6. Two British Navy boats with 15 marines on board trespassed into Iranian territorial waters. Arent we ashamed?

Jeeni Understanding, Bangalore,

It's disgusting of people to adopt the posture of "Oh we deserved it.. We should stop picking on the poor muslims... Oh Bush and Blair are so bad.. You limp wristed British pacifists will probably blame your own goverment if another 7/7 occurs. To those who stand with against the Islam Fascists, you have our gratitude and respect.
To Narsi in India who thinks that the US and Britain need their 'soft parts kicked' Stick to worshipping your cows and shut your mouth about something that's got nothing to do with you.

Andy Cintron, New York City, USA

Give them 50 years. See who will care when all the oil is gone and they'll all bomb each other back to the stone age. AGAIN.

Eric Smith, Toronto, Canada

Chris from Tampa,

You say Iranians are hateful people. Read your own post.
It's full of hate which gives me a clue about your own upbringing.
Mind you the handful of people who demonstrated today in front of the foreign ministry in Iran are the same government paid agents ("So called students") who are always shuttled to locations to demonstrate and burng flags.
So please stop generalizing 70 million people while you have no clue about Iranians and their culture.
Go back to watching Fox news. It fits you right.

Hamid, Dallas, Texas

Bob Gorman from Florida, you may be correct in your assertion that it is time something were done about Iran, but your comment about dividing the 'spoils of war' suggests a couple of misconceptions. Even if America could be trusted to apportion out the ‘spoils’ this time, our experience next door in Iraq demonstrates that the practicalities of destroying a country's infrastructure, maintaining control of it and rebuilding it are a little complicated.

Edd Bullen, Southampton,

Unfortunately, the Brits can't simply act as innocent victims. They are an occupational force in the war zone of Iraq. This wouldn't have happened if they weren't dallying about the coastal borders as if they owned the place. Minor border skirmishes have precipitated wars throughout history, but the border skirmishes are only symptoms of larger issues. Both the UK and Iran are the cause of serious issues in the Mideast, and hopefully their diplomats can negotiate out this situation before it becomes another war.

Skarjune, Minneapolis, MN

The onus would have been on Iran had they actually fired on the British RIB, so whoever was in command of the boarding party should have insisted on evasive action, even if it resulted in being fired upon. The Iranians were bluffing up until this point, and the Brits should have known and been trained for it, especially with the similar incident only a few years ago.

Richard, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

It's clear the Iranians are hopefull of some military response from GB. The mullahs are not very popular right now in their country, and any action on the part of Great Britain will consolidate the Iranian people into supporting their Mullahs. PM Blair has his hands full with this one, he can't act in such a way it will bring the Iranian people into support of Mr. Dinner Jacket, but he has to get his sailors back. I wish them a speedy return and God's blessing on them.

Gary, Sacramento,, California, USA

to neil and other like minded ..............

it is easy to judge and make 'policy' decisions from miles away and when u will not be callled upon etc etc
say anyone should tell iranians to 'piss off' etc is mindless juvenile nonsense..
there will not be any military solution ...nor should there be such madness .......i understand that US generals are being quoted as saying they will resign if Bush orders any military action against IRAN .......and of course if they don't we can't.....
grow up boys....

em, oxford, england

To Bob Gorman
The majority of Iranians are good people, they just get hijacked by fanatic and useless leaders, like Bush, Hitler , Franco, Mussolini, Magie Thatcher , Mugabe Etc.

David Madley, Alicante, Spain

i got a solution we will leave iraq in shambles move to iran destroy there leadership and military then let these two fight it out whith each other Iran has always been a threat to us anyway and im sure it wont take long to destroy there army even the iraqis were able to have there way whith these cowards

mac, newcastle, wy

"US and Britan used the original mandate from Gulf War 1 to go back into Iraq not needing any new resolutions past from UN or permission to do so."

Nice try b from the USA. Either you do not know how to read or you you are talking about things you know nothing about, or you deliberatley plant lies.

Probably the latter

Luke, Vancouver, Canada

-- At that moment one Iranian patrol vessel came alongside, adopting a friendly posture. As a second Iranian vessel arrived, the Revolutionary Guards turned aggressive. ---

What? I say: "What?" A friendly posture? By the enemy? In enemy waters? Did you people ever hear of "Please maintain your distance or we shall open fire?
You could have even smiled while saying it. That would have been friendly too.
My seven-year old is throwing away his leaden Queens Guard soldiers. Now where the hell am I supposed to get him the Iranian Guards he's asking for?

I tell you, heads have to roll on this one.

Eugene, Heidelberg, germany

The thoughts and prayers of your friends in the USA are with the U.K.'s illegally captured military personnel. May they return home safely and quickly.

Charles, Marietta, Georgia/USA

It is hard to imagine the British people willing to lay down and accept the capture of their sons and daughters by a third rate despot. I, for one, am outraged by this obvious slap in the face and I should hope the UK will do more then just ask politely for her service members safe return.

Andrew, Norman, United States

"WWTD (what would Thatcher do?)"

Start World War V, probably.

Starling, Lancaster,

Brits; Where are your stones?

Hold fast cousins; Bushy and Blair didn't get where they are by being wimpy little school boys. They've still got a lot of fight in them. I'm sure they're burning up the phone lines as we speak, cooking up some interesting chess moves for the Iranian government.

Kathy Richardson, Los Angeles, USA

It is strange that Americans and Brits are such blundering fools. Never quite sure where we are, but yet the world prospers at their accomplishments. If it were not for us they would be dipping their oil out with buckets. If they wish to live historically then perhaps they should be historic.

Joe E. Wood, Lufkin, TX

C'mon you lot, lighten up. Give the Iranians credit for using what little collateral they have , I would be crapping myself in their shoes. We in the UK are a sentimental lot and cling to anything that looks furry or weak - we need to relax. The Arabic language is beautiful - trust that any nation who can speak with such poetry is not the enemy. Propaganda rules, right now...

Grant Wyness, Hereford, UK

Everyone who is talking about attacking Iran is forgetting something -- THAT'S WHAT THE IRANIANS WANT! They WANT us to attack them. That's why they did this, and then they can go prancing around about some damned holy jihad against the infidels...

Trust me, attacking Iran is (and I say, is, because it will happen because our government (US) is pretty stupid) going to be a big mistake.

Big Daddy, Detroit, Michigan, USA

" unprovoked and improper attack," "wrong and illegal" etc etc. It's a little late in the day for Britain and America to start in with the old moral outrage act. Their very presence in that area is considered wrong and illegal by most civilized people and almost all Iranians. And as for believing Britain's assertions regarding time and place: "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice...."

Gordon Tryon, COQUITLAM, BC

To all you who say Iran is a peace loving nation, that is pure garbage. Read the other article on this site about how Iranians are protesting and saying they should be put on trial and even saying they should be executed. And you say Americans are barbaric. Get a clue world, this Iran is all about hate and so are most of its people. Cowering away will not change anything. Have some backbone and learn to stand up for yourselves. This dictator is a madman and his rhetoric proves it. I personally hope Iran suffers for their humiliating of British soldiers by airing thier footage on TV. They probably are making the female sailor write these bogus letters "admitting" to nonsense just so they can expose and embaress them to the world. Iran should suffer for this behavior and I hope they do.

Chris, Tampa, USA

Where was their air-cover?

Helicopter, or fighters, certainly would have deterred the Iranians. Most modern patrol ships carry helicopters, and there is certainly a lot of Allied air power in the area.

Rick, Houston, Texas

This just in................
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE is reporting that........."Prime Minister Tony Blair is threatening to throw a world class Hissy-Fit while dressed as a Muslim woman in a head scarf unless the Iranians release the 15 so-called British "military" persons being held by them, if not immediately, then in a year or two, at least, well, maybe........whatever suits them".
When finally found cowering under the table in the officers mess aboard HMS Cornwall, CMDR Lambert, also in a woman's frock, was quoted as saying; "A Hissy-Fit may be exactly what is needed to show them we mean business".
CMDR Lambert then went on to expound on makeup tips as well as the pros & cons of various ladies foundation garments.

William Nelson, Yorkshire, UK

It is inexcusable that Commodere Lambert has not been relieved and summoned to London to answer for this disgraceful incident. He alone must assume responsibility for the colossal tactical failure that occurred. Given knowledge of past incidents of this sort with the Iranians his failure to insure adequate protection for the sailors and marines is nothing short of dereliction of duty. Why hasn't Mr. Blair acted on this?

J O'Connor, Chicago, USA

Frankly, I think the United States and its lapdog Britain need a few painful kicks up their soft parts...international law? Cmon folks, be serious...neither US nor UK cared about it when they went to Iraq...

What you sow, so will you reap...

While I pity the trauma of the sailors who were captured and made scapegoats for no fault of theirs, we should remember that pots have no right to call kettles black

Narsi, Chennai, India

Iran has shown that it stands on an equal footing with the U.K.. The U.S. and U.K. are powerless in this situation. Iran does not care about the goodwill of the U.S. or U.K. so it has nothing to lose diplomatically and it is too powerful to be intimidated by military threats. There is no way that Iran can lose in this situation unless they are pressured by their allies. Pressure from their enemies will have no effect.

Tavi, Raleigh, USA

British people if they had a "say", must ask their government --What the hell the UK is doing in the Persian Gulf?
It's clear to everyone that the so called "UN" mandate is an excuse to interfere in other nations affaires.

Cyrus, Los Angeles, US

What do you say, Brits? Do you feel like whacking the Iranians with the USA? Taking hostages is a cowardly tactic and should not go unpunished. While the thought of wide spread war in the Mideast isn't appealing, how can we co-exist with a bunch of radical, fundementalist, whackos who would like nothing more than to bring down western civ?

James, Denver, USA

The Iran creeps are trying to sucker Britan, backed by the USA, into invading. Then they plan to bleed down and wait out Britan and America by counting on the American liberal cowards as their allies. Cute. Did you know that 70% of liberals in America cant name their vice president? Real cute. Hey heres a solution...lets follow the liberal direction and send Iran school lunch money.

John, Seattle , USA, Washington

Don't fall for it??!! I seem to remember we turned the other cheek with Hitler and what a great strategy that was......I'm not suggesting we invade Iran, but putting together a UN resolution is hardly going to scare them - they haven't exactly responded to that on the nuclear issue. We should expel their ambassador and impose a naval blockade in the Gulf. A taste of their own medicine is what's needed. The more we appease them the more they think they can get away with.

Nick, Chicago, USA

We currently live in a 'might makes right' world for better or worse.

I'm beginnig to think ran is about to find out just how "right" the west can be.

And they might learn the hard way how a few small nukes can tear a monstrous hole in the ground. (in a non populated area first, of course)

John Wayne, Dallas, TX

Paper tigers... that is all that is left of the west... paper tigers... and the third world as well as the fifth column within know it. We are weak, self loathing, lazy..... pathetic. Iran will have its way, whatever that is and yet another nail in the coffin of the west will be hammered in

Bob Sloggin, fairfax, virginia

We are completely in the right, and Iran doesn't have a leg to stand on. However our credibility around the world has been damaged by the Iraq War, which means the picture has become too fuzzy. Next time, more support from the mother ship and shoot to kill.

Tim, London, UK

dear editor
the world should know that iran is no fool
iran is not arab country it is an persian
you can fool some for some time
you can not fool all
all time
britain should learn this lesson
time to treat all nation with equall respect as you wish to be treated
azad

tarlochan pangli, edmonton, canada

Faye Turney is a heroine of this crisis. She is doing the right thing by wearing Islamic head covering. Her wearing it gives the lie to all those who say that culture doesn't matter, that immigration doesn't matter because people, ideas and culture are interchangeable. Some say loyalty, ethnicity, and identity are determined by bits of paper issued by government authorities. She shows that is false and those who say that it is true are liars.

Old Atlantic, Atlantic City, NJ

Ah, for shame, I remember a song with lines,
"Brittania rules the waves, Brittons nevver never shall
be slaves".

Phil , Mission Viejo, California

Be careful.
Iran like Hitler seem hell bent on provacation.
Don't fall for it.
They 're not worth it.
Sooner or later they will pick a fight with a Muslim state and the truth of their intent will be clear.
It is not about religon but simply domination.
People seem to curse the west but I know we ALL really need to fear.

JACK CHAD, READING-ON-THAMES, ENGLAND

What are we supposed to have been spying on? Whichever side of the border we were slightly on, wouldn't we still be in the middle of the ocean? How would it have helped us?

JS, London,

In response to Jim from Houston, Iran is not an Arab country, nor are they a member of the Arab League. Most Iranians are ethnic Persians.

That said, the Arab league has nothing to do with this, other than the fact that the Britons were in Iraqi waters, with permission of the Iraqi government's permission. Iraq IS a member of the Arab League, and with one of their member states having had Iranian gunboats come into their waters and seize soldiers who are there by invitation, I believe the Arab League would would be on the same side as the United Kingdom on this issue...

Lawrence Wilson, Blaine, Minnesota, United States

There are 2 sayings relavent here: speak softly and carry a big stick, which Britain is, and an eye for an eye. Go figure.

Ben, York,

It's time someone, be it Britian, Israel or the USA declared war on Iran. Those maniacs are going to continue to try to bully the rest of the world while supporting terrorists. They want no peaceful negotiations, they just want to posture and rant and rave. Lets take over the damned country and divide the spoils of war!!

Bob Gorman, Florida/USA,

This incidence illustrates how inept, arrogant and naive British armed forces, and their political leaders, are in Muslim conflict resolution.

Andrew, London,

Why not let the Isyraelis handle this? They still know how to fight.

Eugene, Heidelberg, germany

Clearly an unneccessary defeat for the Royal Navy to allow the capture of it's military personnel in a warzone, without firing a single shot. Clearly under-trained for this emergency, and a fault of leadership. If the troops are not prepared for combat, maybe they should go into action in ballet costumes...pink? I just dont think it would have happened to the Israelis. And how come they were not in voice contact with the ship? Helicopters should be in the air, and a warning shot fired, the moment the Iranians approached.

Robin C Lindner, Gig Harbor, WA, USA

This is a UK wake up call. Now maybe you might rethink getting rid of half of the Royal Navy! Don't you wish you had those 2 new Carriers now??

Dan Wolf, West Islip, USA

The once proud RN should hold the captain of the Cornwall accountable for this amateurish interdiction mission. Those 15 sailors were hung out to dry and should have had serious back up.
We can now sit back and watch Blair's mushy response to this issue and perhaps expect the sailors to undergo "sensitivity training" upon their release. WWTD (what would Thatcher do?)

S. Libby, Santa Monica,

Many terrorist excusers, brutal regime apologists and Tokyo Roses on here I see. Why do these who complain live in our part of the World and exercise the right to speech that many of the type they complain about fought so hard for. It's discusting but we are tolerent of them.

Craig, Cambridge, UK

Time for the world to give up violence and confrontationist attitude and embrace the policy of non-violence and friendly reconciliation preached by Gautam Buddhha and Mahatma Gandhi.

Virsen, Pune, India

Half witted leaders + lies + absurd policies= The ridiculous and pathetic.

Bob Harris, Mexico, Mexico

If the Royal Navy's boats were in Iraqi waters when they were seized it means that the Iranian vessels were trespassing. Have any counter-accusations been made? Such accusations should be made in order to keep the ratchet up and confirm our "innocence".

Graham King, Cannock, Staffs

To Carlo do Giorigio: There are only three ways to get along in this world, Carlo. Conquest, capitulation or negotiation. If your country is too weak to conquer and too proud to capitulate, you'd better hope they at least have the brains to negotiate. All this incident shows is Iran does not. They mistake an elementary student with a map could have avoided. When the British announced the coordinates for the seizure that were 1.5 miles inside Iraqi waters, the Iranians countered with coordinates 2 miles to the EAST of that. But it didn't occur to whomever generated this lie, that the dividing line lay to the NORTH EAST. I suggest you go back to your home country Carlos and protest in the streets until this idiot Islamist state collapses. Otherwise the time will come when you don't have a country to go back to.

Nerfff, San Diego, California

This woman who is a member of the British Royal navy is showing a lack of British grit and responsibility. She should absolutley refuse to cover her head as she is a british subject. She is probably not a raghead and should behave in a proper british manner and tell the Iranians to piss off in no uncertain manner. While on the same subject, what a pathetic person Tony Blair is, will you please let our people go, we dont like it. he never ever does get around to doing anything in matters like this.

Neil Hague, Ellesmere Port, cheshire. UK

anon, London...

they had arms, but they had been ordered not to attack....

till the time our impotant democratic goverments are shielding freaky mullah regimns and facist supporters of freaky mullah regimn, then what you think will happen ?

PM, BaWü, Germany

"What if the Iranian Navy were boarding ships 1800' off the English coast with authority of the Arab League? Would England stand for that?"

If they were doing it in French waters with the permission of the French government, I think England would stand for that, yes.

Davis Simpson, Calgary, Canada

Guys, anyway you want to slice it, what Iran did was an act of war. They crossed into international waters and took British military personnel hostage. Honestly, is there any other way to interpret it other than an open act of warfare? And what does any of it have to do with Palestine, or Israel? How does Israel even come into the picture regarding an Iranian naval action? Can someone please point out the causual connection? Making reference to Israel in this case doesn't explain anything, unless you believe that Israel somehow controls Iranian foreign policy. I believe the Royal Navy would be fully justified in blockading the coast of Iran until their sailors are returned.

Chris, Winnipeg, Canada

Tony Blair is re-defining "Going Wobbly"!
Lord Nelson is spinning in his grave!
Soon the Royal Navy will be a coastal defence force so problems like this will no longer arise for you Brits, unless those vicious Belgians have at you!!

Stevie "Two-Shoes", BROOKLYN, USA

The border itself is in dispute. Duh!

Ali Mostofi, Bracknell, UK

Innocent lambs being led to slaughter to start another war.
Are we going to fall for another Gulf of Tonkin again.

Richard, Amsterdam, Netherlands

By the sounds of some of the comments (Richard), the West has decided to start picking on Iran for no apparent reason. There is a reason that every nation in the Middle East fears Iran - They are intent on regional domination and the spread of extreme Islamic Fundamentalism. Iran's words and actions over the last several years have indicated a posture of picking a fight with the West, and the West and the U.N. have responded to this with restraint and appropriate measure. From their Nuclear weapon dreams to their desire to "anhilate" Israel, they have shown the same global domination tendencies of Hitler in the 1930s (does Ahmejinahad remind anyone of Napoleon?). History has taught us that continued appeasement leads only to larger and wider conflict down the road. Our mistake was in removing the only natural deterrent Iran had in the region - Saddam Hussein. The sad part is, the general populace of Iran is repulsed by what the Ayatollahs are perpetratrating, and fear conflict.

Greg, Baltimore, USA/Maryland

Iran captured the Marines as a way to disgrace Briton. Ruler-of-the-sea,; embarassing moment in British history. Equal to say capturing an Israeli airman.
It's all politics, played-out chess-like.
They'll be released very soon. Iranian presitige, capturing British Sailors!! Give them credit for a good operation.
Briton screwed-up;going in weak, not ready to attack The Guards. Has to be the low-point for the former Empire of the sea

arsh ley, detroit, usa

Why is it no-one has asked the obvious question? If our crewmen were in Iraqi waters when they were siezed, what were the Iranians doing in Iraqi waters?

sam, sussex,

Having a clearer view of the situation now than I had originally, I can honestly see why the men and woman did not shoot their their way "free". Two shots is all that it would have taken to empty both RIB's of all of the soldiers. On top of that, in the process of debarking from the Indian ship, I'm sure that on some level the soldiers were also considering the innocent people aboard that vessel as well.

A shoot out would have undoubtedly resulted in harm to their ship and possibly even the death of some or all of it's occupants. No, in this case, it sounds as the correct decision was made by those in charge of the situation. There is no cowardice in being smart. If there is simply no way to win, fighting just to die is not an intelligent choice. It looks a lot more interesting in the papers, to be sure, but those folks all have families just like you and I who want to see them return. It was far braver to be taken captive in this instance; especially given the political clim

Chris Taylor, Fallon, Nevada/USA

From The USA..... Thank you Brits for sticking with us in our
fight to defeat terror. Your efforts and freindship do not go unnoticed.

Leroy, Miami Beach, Florida/ USA

Give them the option to release our Soldiers or face the consequences, no more talking. They are playing mind games and trying to use our soldiers to give a morale boost to their own.

It's a very very sad day when people who control armed forces are acting like 5 year olds.

Robert, London, England

It's all very easy to appear brave leaving comments on a website, but faced down with a larger force I wonder how many would do the same.

There's nothing spineless about deciding NOT to take aggressive action against a force that would otherwise tear you to shreds with superior fire power.

The training our forces receive, employed in this case, avoided causing something much worse. Whether it ends up down this route anyway will seemingly be decided in Tehran.

You should be proud of the training and professionalism of our forces.

Mike, Manchester, England

America and England. I thought it is written in the military that one must try to escape at any cost. What about dying for your country? When are the politicians going to step up to the plate. I dont care what country you are from, it is up to the people to take action.

Mario Campbell, Portland, Oregon, USA

a naval blockcade of iran wold be approriate at this time.

Joe Quinn, New York, NY, USA

Journalist please note. A RIB is not a "RIBBED" inflatable boat, but a RIGID inflatable boat, so called because it has a two- part structure comprising a fibreglass lower hull with inflatable upper sections, to give the speed advantage of a rigid boat with the unsinkable qualities of an inflatable.

D Fraser, Edinburgh,

Haha yeah if the shoe is on the other foot it doesn't matter apparently?
It's so strange how people are so quick to go against the West but never defend them?
I can't believe Iran were stupid enough to publish the "wrong" ake co ordinates, I mean if you're going to lie at least get it right! You would of thought they would of checked them or something?

Tom Stringwell, Banbury, Oxfordshire, England

Quote:
"How would we like it if there were Iranian ships in the English Channel?

Steven Harris, London" :end quote

I can't think of a better comment to illustrate the loonies of the planet who manufacture any excuse to do nothing for any imaginable situation.

Erik Lind, St. Petersburg, FL, USA

All we need to do is send in the SAS, doing that would show that we WILL resort to force when threatend by counteries run by terorists.

Peter, York,

Unreliable intelligence from the British is why we are knee deep in the war with Iraq. How credible is the information that is being reported? I for one am very skeptical about this entire issue. We have been "tricked" into war once, shall we do it again???

Kevin, Atlanta , USA, Ga

The weight of the world is coming down on Iran, because Iran keeps making idiotic mistakes. Basically, the Iranian president has spewed senseless rhetoric about how the Iranians are going to wipe Israel off the map, questioning the holocaust, funding Hezbollah's actions this past year and continuing to support terrorism around the globe. Forgive me if I don't shed a tear for what is about to happen to that country. Their political and religious leaders have simply brought Iran to the brink of destruction. Don't think that the British will stand-by and take this non-sense for too long. Plus, the US is more than ready to take military action on Iran. This whole charade with the defiance to come clean about it's nuclear program can only lead to one outcome.

Iran will soon face many of the harsh realities of their neighbor Iraq. Same dance, just a different girl. Saddam hung from the gallows for his indiscretions and pig-headedness. Ahmadinejad may soon share the same fate.

Ken, Tampa, USA

To say that the UK or USA would attack or threaten a foreign nations navy in international waters because it was "close" to the either nation does not hold up to scrutiny. During the cold war the Soviet Union consistently had war ships in an around almost all of NATO's national waters, but remained in international waters. Besides a few well documented collisions of submarines following each other, there were no major incidents.

What the Navies would generally do is watch, and report but not engage in any way. Even if Iran disagreed with the Britons being in the region, they had no authority to sieze the vessels outside of their waters, unless they intend it as an act of war.

Tim, NYC,

I say send the politicians into harms way then maybe something will get accomplished. If nothing else we will at least be rid of some of the useless jaw jacking politicians that do nothing more than make idol threats on what we might do.

Bob, Murray, USA

Let me see if I can get this straight - Four Iranian gun boats head into Iraqi waters at full speed and the British do nothing! - don't they have radar on the HMS Cornwall?
Surely with the 'enemy' pouring full speed across the border they would have sent more than one chopper to have a look. - And they would have sent reinforcements the moment the Iranians crossed into Iraqi territory. Not after however long it took the Brits to finish searching the merchant ship. - how long was that by the way - no details I see - hmm!

Nannon, Alicante, Spain

Try

RIGID

INFLATABLE

BOAT

Jon T, Westbourne, UK

At least the oil profiteers (read: oil companies) will be able to salvage the situation by raising the price of oil and gas over and again - even though no actual disruption in supply has taken place. It's comforting to know that in a time of strife and conflict, capitalism will survive.

Thomas, SLC, UT

To quote the Python's; "Run away"!!

Steven Wagner, Monmouth County, NJ/USA

The Revolutionary Guards are the defenders of the Islamic Revolution. You may assume that they live the Quranic way of life both in public and in private. The Qu'ran says some things about truthfulness and honesty. So, I have a problem: Is it OK according to the Qu'ran to pressure infidels into telling lies, is it OK for Muslims to tell lies when it concerns infidels? Is that really how devout Muslims behave, is that really how Irianians are? Perhaps someone can explain it to me.

Ed Zuiderwijk, Cambridge,

Mama, Mama, why do those Irainians have guns pointed at us?

Rick O'Shea, Amissville,

Clearly, the Iranians have violated Iraqui sovereignty when they captured the british. So, the Iranians go unsanctioned for their lawlesness (sheer piracy) whereas the british are falsely accused, punished and humiliated!? It seems the Iranians are blatantly abusing the legendary fairplay of the british, hopefully to their detriment.

Alain R, Quebec, Canada

Jim in Houston,
The Indian ship that was boarded was in Iraqi water, the Irainian gunboats were 1800 yards from the vessel. No on was 1800' from the Iranian coast

Andy, Chatham, USA

This is a simple case of kidnapping.
We know who has done it and should do something about it happening again by giving our marines more weapons when carrying out operations near the Iranian border.
Its happened before how could we allow it to happen again?
With regards to this situation the British can not back down as this would be a sign of continuing weakness. Immediate economic sanctions should be placed on Iran until the marines are freed.

Rich, Leicester,

Jim, and all the other apologists for the Iranian pirates how about packing your bags and moving to Iran ?

Joe, Geneva,

Too many of you responders are missing the point. Iran is wrong on this. They were not in Iranian waters (per their own coordinates). They attacked a small inflatable boat with a ship armed to do small sea battle. They forced the Saliors and Marines on board to go toward shore at gun point. Iragi waters, international waters, or even Iranian waters this is wrong. Forget the war in Iraq, forget the nuclear threat, forget that they hate everyone not born Arab, this is about right and wrong and there is no gray when it comes to that. Either they were right or they were wrong. They were WRONG! Free the Marines and Saliors or face pain of Great Britian, (if we can still call it Great, I think after this we will.)

Warren, Nashville, USA

I am waiting for a move that we don't know of yet, give our people time and we shall win in the end.

Dennis, England, Suffolk

The doc. is gettin a taste of his own medicine. except that the patient is only as mad as the doc.

Freo, Bunbury, WA

Actually Carlo, there was a UN mandate called UN resolution 1441. Please read. It will help you understand. The only thing that made the invasion 'illegal' was that France, Germany and Russia refused to honor their obligations under 1441 for reasons that were later discovered to include their own violations of the Oil for Food program and their back-ally oil dealings. Iraqi's were starving while these three circumvented the Oil for Food program to get cheap oil. There's your blood for oil.

rob, Cinci, USA

If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience.
George Bernard Shaw

Translation....They have gained in grabbing hostages and then negotiating for their release before, why wouldn't they do it again?

Solution....Don't meet the demands of hostage takers!

Kevin, Boston, MA, USA

Some thing needs to be done about Iran first the say they are refineing uranium for electricity but kept their work SECRET FOR 18 YEARS and now they take british military personal by force when they were the ones out of their waters they are trying to provoke the west when they know know one has the b_ _ _s to stop them if they want a nuke we should give them one used in down town.

Bob, Oklahoma City, USA

The political motivation is obviously despicable but it is a bit much to attach moral condemnation to the tactical requirements of such an operation. It has all the classic elements of planning, deception, and surprise.
If a person were to study this operation in a class on tactics and with no personal identification of the combatants, i.e. no nationalities identified, they would have to conclude that any operation of this type would require speed, cunning, discipline, and overwhelming force to succeed in capturing the enemy without great loss of life.
To our detriment we often try to dehumanize our enemies for successfully using the same tactics we employ. If our military pulled it off as good we'd be well pleased.
We need to realistically view our enemy. Morally blaming them for classic tactical methods clouds the issues of long range political goals.

David , Clovis, USA

Abbreviation for RIB boat is wrong. It is RHIB for Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat.

P. J., Houston, TX

It is amazing to me that we as a global community allow states like Iran and Syria to dictate the terms of diplomacy. I think people need to wake-up and understand that it has been our PC ways that have delivered us here, and, will continue to do so.

Jeff, Charleston, WV

For those who argue against action by the West against Iranian nuclear ambitions, think of the thoughts running through your mind when you hear an emergency announcement on the BBC stating that a nuclear tipped intermediate range missle launched from Northern Iran is 12 minutes away from impact on London.

Wake up and undestand what you are dealing with.

jim, Los Angeles, CA

Beginning from the end of the Gulf War in 1991, the Iraqi government agreed to Security Council Resolution 687, which called for weapons inspectors to search locations in Iraq for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, as well as weapons that exceed an effective distance of 150 kilometres. [4] After the passing of resolution 687, thirteen additional resolutions (699, 707, 715, 949, 1051, 1060, 1115, 1134, 1137, 1154, 1194, 1205, 1284) were passed by the Security Council reaffiming the continuation of inspections, or citing Iraq's failure to comply fully with them. [5] On September 9, 1998 the Security Council passed resolution 1194 which unanimously condemns Iraq's suspension of cooperation with UNSCOM, one month later on October 31 Iraq officially declares it will cease all forms of interaction with UNSCOM.

US and Britan used the original mandate from Gulf War 1 to go back into Iraq not needing any new resolutions past from UN or permission to do so.

b, USA,

One way or the other , someone has lied, someone was in the wrong place at the right time. British in Iranian waters, or Iranians in Iraq waters, someone is gonna have to own up to be wrong, and neither of the countries are in a habit of doing that. Is it the Iranian who have a bigger picture in mind, or are they telling the truth and Britain is working on damage limitation with another blunder, ...... Again. Here Her D Wood of Wilby.

D Hein, Hampshire,

It is time humanity learned to treat each other with respect and kindness. All this irresponsible belligerence is disruptive of harmony. Gas prices are soaring and more trauma lies ahead if things are not resolved peacefully. With global warming it is time the passengers on the ship of planet earth, focused on saving the ship rather than fighting with each other.

shobhan paul, Malibu, CA

Well, if the British were running guns and explosives into France to destabilize the French government and kill innocent French citizens, and the UN authorized Iran to patrol French territorial waters in the Channel and inspect ships within French territory, then the British would damn well better respect their right to board non-Warships in that area for inspections.

Further, if in those circumstances, the Iranians did find a British warship in French territory, the legal action would be to escort them out of French territory and file a protest though diplomatic channels.

Robert, Silver Spring, USA/Maryland

This is Political Hype designed to sway the masses to support the American war of agression. Bush stragety 101 by carl rowe.
after 7 years you think educated people would notice what's going on.

jody, Birmingham, usa

My word. The more i read, the more I'm convinced that there is a "moral divide" so great between America and Europe that the idea of a NATO or other alliance is defunct. Every European poster above intimated that it is Britain's fault: either they shouldn't have been there, or their actions is Iraq condemned them to suspicion, or that Iran is only acting rightfully within its sovereignty, or that continuing to pique the Iranians will lead them to nuclear ambitions.

Contrarily, the American posters found a strong defense of a non-nuclear Middle East the key, found Iran's threats to be supercillious and vapid, their sovereign claims poppycock, their actions illegal.

Given the choice - I would much much prefer the cats of the region to be declawed. Until such time as they aren't ... then Israel needs to maintain its armory, the US needs to be the cat-catcher, and all the Libs of the World can be expected to pine for peace on a Silver Platter.

Bob Lynch, Alameda Calif., USA

Fasten your seatbelts because it could get bumpy from here out.

Iranians are immensely proud people. Even if they made a mistake, they will never admit it. They would rather argue their wrong then accept humiliation, by the west, for their wrong doings.

With a country that has a government that has repeatedly stated their desire for the annihalation of multiple countries across the globe; I would not take this situation lightly. They are playing chess; but unlike the rest of the world, when you're not looking, they take your pieces off the board.

A snake in its best form!

Mike, Tallahassee, USA/Florida

Jim

I have no dog in this fight: As far as I'm concerned US/Coalition should not be in Iraq, period.

But AFAIK the Shatt-al-Arab ops are conducted under UN mandate and Iran has accepted that madate. Further, they are simply maritime law-and-order ops, not directed toward anyone, conducted solely to control smuggling and unlawful intrusion into Iraq's territorial waters. as and when Iraq Navy fully stands up, need for these ops will end. Last, every country has the right to police its waters. Its not a matter of the Iranians liking it or not, its a matter of policing in Iraq waters.

Ravi Rikhye, Washington DC, USA

Jim - Great Britian would go through proper channels, not kidnap a few Iranian sailors and Marines like a thief in the night.

The RN is highly professional and did what they could in the situation. I commend the sailors and Marines for acting sensibly and not trying to shoot thier way out.

Jay, United States,

In response to Jim of Texas and Steven of London, the situation is not analogous to Iran boarding ships off the British coast or the English channel- the ships were in Iraqi waters- this is analogous to Iran boarding ships in French waters, which would be a French concern, not a British one.

R. Jones, Brussels, Belgium

Its interesting that there are enough UK and US citizens who openly (with names and addresses) criticize their government - even if its an open and shut case like this where the Iranians are clearly in the wrong. However, do you see or hear from a SINGLE Iranian who dares criticize the Mullahs of Iran for this incident or others in the past? Iran used to be great country giveing poetry, language and technology to the rest of the world. Now, all they have are bunch of religious nuts running the place with edicts.

The US and UK may not be much better politically, but atleast we get to speak our minds freely - even if it anti-government and somewhat moronic in this case!

So critics of the US and UK, more power to you since it only shows the US and UK in a better light than Iran.

MA, Chicago, IL

Jim Give It UP!!!! Iran is a member of the UN they were not forced to join and they should abide but its regulations.Not to mention that they weren't even in Iranian Waters.

Joshua Kent, Murfreesboro, US

"How would we like it if there were Iranian ships in the English Channel?

Steven Harris, London"

If the West keeps up its policies of appeasement, you just might get your wish! And this time, there's not going to be a Charles Martel or an El Cid to save your hide and stop the invasion.

Steve, New York, New York

where are all the human rights lobbyists with their outrage over the kidnap of 15 British sailors, or are they only intrested if the captors have American accents?

Uche George, London, England

We must learn from this. Overwelming force must be available in future and the will to use it must also be there. Our Labour government has made it very difficult by underfunding our forces to the point were the cannot even befend themselves. If the Iranians had been looking down the barrels of some big guns they would not have dared to come close enough to be a problem. But I say again, learn from this and start doing things in a way that our adversaries will respect.

Peter Mallinson, Glasgow, UK

What if the Iranian Navy were boarding ships 1800' off the English coast with authority of the Arab League? Would England stand for that?
********************************
Given that the Arab league has no mandate from the UN to be boarding ships in the english channel or north sea what is the point of this question? The whole reason for the British ship to be there was because the Iranians can't be trusted to do anything themselves. If Iran wasn't a lying, morally bankrupt terrorist state then we could leave them in peace to police that part of the world, but they aren't, so we have to do the job for them. Bigger guns all round next time and a willingness to use them would be a useful addition to out rules of engagement. A little more competence from our naval commanders would also be welcome.

cruise, sunderland, uk

With all the sophisticated surveillance equipment available to us and the US forces, I still do not understand why we did not see the approaching Iranian gunboats and do something to discourage them from entering Iraqi waters?

It also seems surprising that our sailors are sent into these situations with so little backup. We know that Iran is capable of such actions. Surely preventing them from taking such steps is a better policy than having to spend days and weeks trying to sort situations like this out once they have happened? Iran clearly anticipated that they would not encounter resistance. We need to let them know in no uncertain terms that if they come into Iraqi waters (as we claim happened) then they will suffer consequences.

Kevin, Kent,

If the Brits were taken in Iranian waters, why weren't ehe Iranians also searching the Indian vessel?

Bob, Andover, Hampshire

And why exactly does HMS Cornwall allow its inflatable boats to get out of sight?!? Nelson is doing backflips in the wall of St. Paul's. Britania, where are your warriors?!?

Ned, Stoneham, USA

I cannot believe some of the idiots contributing to this article. The British Navy is patrolling Iraqi waters on behalf of the Iraqi government with a mandate from the UN. This is an illegal act and flagrant abuse by an increasingly isolated Iran. In fairness to the UK, everything has been done to minimise the incident for fear of inflaming the situation. If the Iranians had full control over their own divided powermongers they could have easily backed down while keeping face and this would have passed with only a few column inches. This is evidently a political move to test the will of the UK/US/UN over "bigger" issues on the horizon.

David, Bristol,

Richard Harris: Your moral equivalency argument is more then a bit ridiculous. Britain and Iran do not inhabit the same moral plane. State sanctioned murder on a grand scale is not something in which Britain normally engages. No one on this earth is worried that the U.K. will decide to smuggle a nuclear bomb into Delhi and then either ignite it or otherwise use it as a form of nuclear blackmail. Britain does not open its meetings of parliament each week by asking for death to all of the people who inhabit Israel and America. Britain does not pay terrorist groups on a varying scale dependent on how much death and destruction they cause in Israel or elsewhere as needed. Britain does not use real physical torture as an state sanctioned instrument of its policies. Britain does not glorify suicide and suicidal cults. And Britain is not a theocracy founded upon an incredibly aggressive and triumphalist religion. I think, sir, that your moral compass is broken.

Scott, Maryville, USA

Sadly, the Western world really has no teeth anymore. We have become too concerned about political correctness!

Heather Adams, Lowell, Ma USA

Richard, although there is some validity to the background of your argument, I'm sure neither of us truly believes that Iran would cease its program just because the Western powers decided to lay down its own weapons. There would be a power vacuum which someone less saintly than yourself would be only too happy to take advantage of.

Joe, give the self flagellation a rest. Name one country that doesn't look after its own interests.

Steve, Edinburgh, UK

I agree with the court-martial suggestion - letting troops out of sight with no air support is unforgiveable in modern warfare. Even if the helicopter has to leave station, what are all those aircraft carriers doing out there if no planes are available to provide backup? The Iranian gunboats should have been given no alternative but to back down or be destroyed BEFORE they got too close.

As for the reponse, how about a blockade and threat to bomb a couple of oil pielines. A country with a single source of very vulnerable income isn't in any position to dictate.

KR, Stockport,

Richard Harris: Yes, Israel acknowledges that it may take action against Iran. But that was provoked by Iran's earlier open, gratuitous and repeated announcements of its intention to wipe Israel off the map. If you're trying to drag Israel into an essentially British problem, at least get the relevant facts on the table.

Stewart Saunders, london, england

the British say their patrolling the sea between Iraq and Iran is taking place under UN mandate. Of course, this could be seen just a farse since there was no UN mandate to attack, destroy and occupy the state of Iraq in first place. At a later stage the UN had to accept the fait accompli but Iraq's neighbours have never welcome the presence of Western militay forces in their region. What would the UK government say if Iranian naval forces were zooming around British coastlines, though still on international waters? Would they remain inactive and watch the Iranians vessels peacefully? By drawing parallels with the UN mandate in Lebanon one may notice the sharp contrast between the two hot spots. One would expect Iraq having enough own resources and military experience and thus be able to look after their own borders, as they were when regarded as an imminent threat to the USA and UK. How come that 4 years later they are still in need of nannies to protect their oil?

Carlo di Giorgio, London,

what if we had no nuclear missiles and iran did,food for thought,they should shut down irans oil exports.

n jackson, spain,

We are the punchbag of the world, down the tubes on all fronts, not made of the right stuff anymore.

What a sorry, spineless bunch we have become!

D Wood, Wilby, England

How would we like it if there were Iranian ships in the English Channel?

Steven Harris, London,

Can anyone tell me why exactly our military personnel are armed?

I thought they had weapons so they could defend themselves?

anon, London,

The commodore of the mother ship ought to be court martialled without delay for the untimely withdrawl of the helicopter cover while the search was progressing until it had been successfully concluded.

Nicholas Xenakis, The Borough, London,

Michael frizell: conflict is not inevitable and the West and Israel do have a choice. Constant threats and intimidation from the West will surely lead the Iranians to conclude that the only way they can protect themselves is to acquire nuclear weapons. Why do we have such weapons? we have them to protect ourselves. By the same token, they have to defend themselves and their people. When Israel - one of the world's strongest military powers, backed by the US, the world's only superpower, openly acknowledges that it may take action against Iran, what do you expect? So long as Israel and the West have nuclear weopans they have absolutely no moral right to stop others from obtaining them. Practice what we preach or prepare for armageddon. We do have a choice.

Richard Harris, London,

The Arab League has no authority off the British coast, Jim. If they were doing it with the permission of the UN then of course we would stand for it.

Roger Tilbury, Worthing,

It's a pity that Britain's actions in Iraq means that it has lost the right to refer to international law.

joe, brussels, belgium

Conflict with the Iranians is enevitable given their secret intention to build nucleur weapons. Nobody in the region doubts this and neither does the west. A nucleur middle east is unthinkable. Israel will respond without hesitation if threatened by Iran.To avoid a full blown nucleur conflict in the region the west will be forced to act militarily. Iran will not give up it's intention to be a dominant player in the middle east and one of the major sponsors of Islamic terrorism.
The western powers and Israel simply have no choice.

Michael Frizell, Paris, France

This incident is a further warning to the western world not to underestimate the degree of antipathy and hatred in the minds of many in the region. Be under no illusion, hatred does not go away so easily ...

maurice, London,

Ribbed inflatable boats, or RIBs? Back to the drawing board

Ian B, Reading, Berkshire

It would seem the only viable option is to engage an Iranian gunboat and take some hostages to use as trade bait. Yes I know this is very nasty business, but what other options are there? Full fledged war is totally out of the question. And so is groveling before the Iranians. There are no good options.

Erick Bllair, LA, California, USA

The Iranians are cunning and stupid at the same time. What are they going to do now, parades, show trials, fake confessions, it hardly seems worth the eventual price. From now on boarding parties will have bigtime firepower backing them up on missions. And with American naval forces building up in the Gulf you've got to ask yourself, are the Iranians masterful chess players coordinating every move precisely. Or , are they desperate, bungling religious maniacs with very few moves left to make.

Michael Lloyd, Seminole, Florida, USA

As I understand it under International Law even if they were in Iranian waters they were in a British Warship and could not therefore lawfully be arrested.

Nicholas Beale, London, England

What if the Iranian Navy were boarding ships 1800' off the English coast with authority of the Arab League? Would England stand for that?

Jim, Houston, USA/Texas

Dear Mr Butcher, US carriers carry F18 fighters, not F15s. And it does take time to launch a fighter, rather more than a heartbeat. Also by the time a fighter could have been present they could only have destroyed the Iranian boats and the captured marines and sailors.

mr Kelly, have you seen the state of the Royal Navy under your hero Blair? It has been halved since he took power and with plans to further reduce it we don't have a Royal Navy in anything but name. Thanks for volunteering your carriers, I assume that is with the consent of your president? Or do you not need it.

Apart form that I agree - bomb them, sink their navy and if that fails to get our hostages back, then bombard the country for 30 days as was done to Iraq under Saddam the first time round.

As for the brits who support Iran on this, why don't you get out of here and go there?

Neil Murphy, cromer,

Clive, it is absurd to say that the position of the boats is irrelevant. When the Iranians publicly claim that is the reason for the abduction, it demonstrates the absurdity of their position and undermines any argument they may proclaim. The western media's take on it would be very different if the boats had been in Iranian waters. The Iranians may hold the hostages, but it's a poor bluff with a very weak hand.

Steve, Edinburgh, UK

If the Royal Navy and the Government cannot guarantee the safety of their servicemen, we shouldn't be operating in such an environment - near to the forces of a country who is known to be a potential threat. I would like to know what the ROE were in this. I cannot believe that marines and sailoirs were sent, unprotected, into such a situation, without any air or sea cover near enough to protect them. Nelson's Navy would never have allowed this to happen. It is gross negligence to effectively allow our servicemen to be captured like this by a rogue state.

Tom H, London, UK

what a lot of HOKUM. can not understand out how tne navy could deteriine the border location. since the neither the Iraqi's or the Iranian can. Tthey have been fighting over the location for years.

pete staff, seaford, n.y., u.s.a.

Thanks to you John Kelly in the USA. Sadly, we do not have the 'assets' you seem to think we have. Consecutive British governments have consistently cut our armed forces and you now see the results - total humiliation of our nation. We have become an emasculated country, a pale shadow of our former military might. When this is over though we must consider punitive military action. We have cruise missiles purchased from you and we should launch a couple to destroy the museum in Teheran where our two boats from the identical incident in 2004 are displayed. Then we should bomb the port from which the Iranian gunboats came out to to capture our 15 sailors. And after that, we should have a full inquiry into how this whole humiliating episode happened. Heads must roll in the military and in government for this. But it won't happen because we have no sense of pride or honour. I am a former British infantry officer ashamed at what has happened and how we are dealing with the situation.

Richard Fullerton, London, UK

It is interesting to see the views of the original two posters both from the USA as they clearly show the difference between the british and american ways of doing things. Whereas I don't doubt the americans would ahve sailed firepower over there in a show of strength it just isn't the way we do things here.

MY thoughts are with the soldiers captured.

I also note with interest the use of the word men throughout the article when, as we all know, there was a woman involved too.

Ben Edwards, Tunbridge Wells,

Nicholas, the U.S. is not in a recession and we are not laying off thousands of workers. In fact, employment has grown in the United States by over two million over the past three years.

If the citizens of the UK decide not to defend their clear national interests against the likes of Iran then you all had better be buying prayer rugs and learning Arabic....you seem to believe that would be easier and more acceptable than defending yourselves.

The US is getting tired of defending you.

Spinoneone, Fairfax, VA, USA

Thanks to you John Kelly in the USA. Sadly, we do not have the 'assets' you seem to think we have. Consecutive British governments have consistently cut our armed forces and you now see the results - total humiliation of our nation. We have become an emasculated country, a pale shadow of our former military might. When this is over though we must consider punitive military action. We have cruise missiles purchased from you and we should launch a couple to destroy the museum in Teheran where our two boats from the identical incident in 2004 are displayed. Then we should bomb the port from which the Iranian gunboats came out to to capture our 15 sailors. And after that, we should have a full inquiry into how this whole humiliating episode happened. Heads must roll in the military and in government for this. But it won't happen because we have no sense of pride or honour. I am a former British infantry officer ashamed at what has happened and how we are dealing with the situation.

Richard Fullerton, London, UK

Iran is intent on remaining on the radar of the US and the UK for a long time to come. This is just a small blip on the map and is just the begining of the long and on going struggle that we, US & UK, will have to deal with in the next coming years. We have to show Iran that this act is an act of war and that we will not be intimidated. Get the 2 carrier groups in the Persian Gulf feet from, if not in Iranian waters and force them to release the 15 service members. Weither it is an American, a Briton, an Italian or a Pakastani serving in Iraq that is captured, we all must come to their defense. The British should set a deadline stating that the proof that the sailors were taken illegally gives them on other option but a military one. Iran has toyed with the west for to long enough and this cannot be allowed!

John, Boston, Ma, USA

"can't believe the great country of the United Kingdom is going to let an act of war go unchallenged."

Because they know Iran wants a war and aren't going to bite. It's a question of not reacting like a little kid.

Iran's leader thinks he's the Earth's saviour and that it his task to bring about the Apocalypse, destroying most of the planet and creating eternal peace on Earth (for the Muslims, of course). Or something to that effect. He's a bit of a loony.

Starling, Lancaster,

The Royal Navy should have learned its lesson, after the first incident back in 2004 in involving the capture of seven Royal Marines / RN personnel.

When you are working in close proximity to such a hard-line regime as the one that exits Iran right now, you should not only expect trouble but be ready for it. I served in the Royal Navy back in the time of the falklands conflict and it seems that we have learned few lessons. Our ships were lightly armed back then and though things have improved, we still seem obsessed with the big picture, Trident etc while our patrol boats (inflatables) if you can call them that do not have any offensive ability at all, what a joke!

I am sure our American friends wouldn't put their naval personnel in such a vulnerable position, either do the job properly or let the Americans do the job. Honestly the British shoe string mentality really just frustrates me. Excuse me Sir, is there any chance of some body armour.

Graham Wharton, St. Albans, UK

The art of taking hostages is deeply embedded in the culture of all nations and was something common in European culture back to and preceding the Roman empire. Why should we feign shock at the use of this tactic in the 21st century? Given the complexity of the international politics of our time, it is an extremely useful tactic and immediately exposes the soft underbelly of western democracies. And who supposes that we don't do the same to our 'enemies' ?. The dilemma is the same now as it ever was - how to extract the hostages without giving away too many concessions in the public gaze and not appearing weak in the process. The location of the boats at the time is irrelevant. What is relevant is the skill and experience of the people we will use to negotiate the return of our servicemen and woman. Of course, we will never get back the boats and the gear.

clive, surrey,

I am am amazed at the comments from the 2 American citizens

There comments come from a country that is slowly laying off vast numbers of workers in the economic slowdown bought about by war in the gulf and its effect on oil prices, these high prices are a smoking coldrum of recession.

At there last congress vote. President Bush was out voted in all aspects of administration for the next 2 years. In effect they now have the worst form of government possible,,, that cannot actually pass or put into place any new leglislation. And from an outsiders view point is actually un voteable for in 2 years at there next election.

From past performance Iran appears to be copycatting kidnaps in past years, usually on American citizens, and as past experience has shown the Iranians seem always to be in control of these events. Even in the event of a rescue mission failing disastrously as it has in the past in such circumstances.

Pray for Peace as war in Iraq will guarantee a recession

Nicholas Iles, Oswestry, United Kingdom

Note that it's only the American writers wanting a war with Iran!

Have you learnt nothing from your worldwide follies?

Joe, London,

The Royal Navy's procedures in these situations obviously needs review. That Iranian patrol boats, previously observed, were allowed to approach and enter Iraqi waters unchallenged and then "ambush" navy personnel is I suggest a little embarassing. After all with two US carrier groups in the area an F15 was only a heartbeat away.

Geoff Butcher, Nassau, Bahamas

I think it is clear the Iranians are intent on war.
I keep hearing how Iraq is going to go to pot if we go anywhere, else. However, I believe the Iranians would need to stop funding terrorists around the middle east if they are being attacked at home.
I wish Britain the best in getting back their sailors.

Brad Weaver, Boise, USA, Idaho

I can't believe the great country of the United Kingdom is going to let an act of war go unchallenged. This is clearly an act of war, and I would line up the Royal Navy at the Iranian coast and give them one last chance to release the hostages. I don't know if your assets are present to assault Iran quickly, but I'll volunteer our two carriers in the area to help you in any way possible. Launch some missiles and take out some Iranian Revolutionary Guard bases, then talk.
God bless the men and woman being held captive. The UK is our greatest ally and I pray for a quick resolution to this matter and the safe return of all troops from the Persian Gulf.

John Kelly, herndon, Virginia, USA

I hope Mr Blair,gets tough with Iran and shows some spunk or they will do it again.

Mary, Lake ,

Noting the phrase 'similar circumstances' and (historically)Britain’s involvement in the 1953 coup that toppled Mohammed Mossaddeq, Iran’s prime minister, plus Pres. Ahmadinejad's previous experience assisting in Jimmy Carter's 444-day retirement present, maybe the MOD could have been a tad more aware of the risks of its service personnel being 'invited to dinner' with the Revolutionary Guard. 20/20 hindsight of course, but this was getting caught with one's bellbottoms down!

Tony Gold, Southbourne, UK