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Original poster

Iran-what do you think is our next move?

44 replies

noddyholder · 01/04/2007 14:05

Have just watched a news update and there are now protests and a small explosion outside the british embassy in Tehran.The president has said that the uk has been aggressive and unreasonable(?).It is looking serious

OP posts:
paulaplumpbottom · 01/04/2007 14:53

I think they have been looking for a fight all along

Original poster
noddyholder · 01/04/2007 14:56

I think that is obvious now isn't it?There is no way they are going to release those sailors without some pretty heavy conditions They want something possibly to exchange for those iranians held in America.

OP posts:
paulaplumpbottom · 01/04/2007 15:05

Which makes for a stronger argument that they probably weren't in their waters in the first place. They just want those people released. The UK shouldn't let Iran bully them, they'll just do this sort of thing again.

meowmix · 01/04/2007 15:26

they need to find a way that lets the Iranians save face - its a characteristic of this region that they cannot be seen to accept they're in the wrong. Best bet is to get someone from the Arab League to intercede or a neutralish country like UAE or Qatar.

but of course the Iranians will use this to their advantage - no point capturing them otherwise.

paulaplumpbottom · 01/04/2007 15:57

I don't know how they can do that without saying that the marines were in Iranian waters

Original poster
noddyholder · 01/04/2007 15:59

They are insisting on at least an apology from the british govt

OP posts:
paulaplumpbottom · 01/04/2007 16:02

Its not a good idea. I wonder if they know where they are being held? Could be a job for the SAS

Eleusis · 01/04/2007 20:18

Hey Paula, remember "Tie a yellow ribbon round an old oak tree"?

paulaplumpbottom · 01/04/2007 20:21

Oh yes who could forget my neighborhood looked like a giant lemon

Frizbe · 01/04/2007 20:21

SBS more like!

Eleusis · 01/04/2007 20:26

I think what is happening in Iran is very scary. And sadly I don't see those sailors coming home any time soon.

giddyfeet · 02/04/2007 03:48

I have been watching this news bulletin with interest. I'm really concerned that this is going to lead to war. Iran are not going to back down (as someone on news24 said: if this is iran when it fears the international community, I'd hate to see how it would behave if it didn't) until they get an apology and the UK are not going to apologise as we don't think we are in the wrong. Well, I am starting to wonder if we will apologise because interaction between the media and government here has really died down...

To the person who suggested the SAS gatecrash the party... that is what happened in the 70s I think and it went really wrong, so I don't think that is going to be an immediate option.

Fingers crossed for those sailors because if it does go to war then they havent got a hope in hell.

ENTP · 02/04/2007 06:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

LazyLine · 02/04/2007 07:33

I agree with you ENTP.

I worry that this will lead to war (and worry more that both sides want it to lead to war) and what will happen to troops in Iraq if it does lead to war.

I hate the double standards(their nuclear program/our nuclear program). We are not the Empire that we used to be and I wish that we would remember that sometimes. I do not think that what Iran is doing is fair, but that is not to say that it is unprovoked. The West holds Iranian soldiers.

I wish we could resolve it diplomatically but worry that we forgot how to do that about 6 years ago.

meowmix · 02/04/2007 12:19

the big problem is that UK and USA have very few bargaining chips left to encourage the other arab states to get involved. They've lost the balance of power.

It looks increasingly likely that this will escalate which is bloody terrifying from where I am (opposite iran... oops) esp as the Iranian people feel very strongly that the sailors should be tried for espionage at least.

wannaBeWhateverIWannaBe · 02/04/2007 12:24

well apparently all 15 have now "confessed" to being in iranian waters... with a little help I'm sure...

meowmix · 02/04/2007 12:26

er... tbh the word on the street here is that they were in the wrong waters. from US military folk no less.

wannaBeWhateverIWannaBe · 02/04/2007 12:29

but the word here is that they were in iraqi waters, with co-ordinates on the maps shown etc, which Iran initially agreed with and then changed their mind about.

The woman amongst them has a young daughter whose birthday she was hoping to be home for.

giddyfeet · 02/04/2007 12:33

meow not sure where you are but gwb was on tv yesterday saying that they were in iraqi waters, they have done nothing wrong and called them "hostages".

I think the thing is both sides think they are right. And neither are going to back down and as much as Blair doesn't want to admit it, Iran is holding the cards with this one...

giddyfeet · 02/04/2007 12:36

wannabe - I actually think that the Blair government are speaking the truth about the co-ordinates. If they had anything to hide they wouldnt have bought maps out to prove it. (They didn't give us the proof we needed for the 45 mins thing, we were told to trust them) but ultimately I think the behaviour of the West in the last few years is going to be our undoing in this situation.

I really hope this can be solved but I am not hopeful.

littleEasterlapin · 02/04/2007 12:38

In addition to the GPS readings from Cornwall's Lynx, and the Iranians' amended readings, the master of the boarded Indian ship says he was definitely in Iraqi waters, plus he was at anchor fo at least a week after the incident and was confirmed to be in Iraqi waters.

When this happened in 2004 the Marines were made to "confess" and then were released. THe Iranians have escalated this far beyond that point.

wannaBeWhateverIWannaBe · 02/04/2007 12:43

there was some speculation about the letter that the woman had written - she made references to her ship's name which didn't bear any resemblence to the name of the ship - and there is speculation that the letter was written under duress and that these references serve as some kind of indication that she was writing under duress.

littleEasterlapin · 02/04/2007 12:52

She said "I serve on Foxtrot Nine Nine", instead of "I serve on HMS Cornwall". The ship has F99 painted on her side, so someone looking at her might call her "Foxtrot Nine Nine", but no-one ever refers to their ship like that. So it suggests that her "confession" was written for her.

wannaBeWhateverIWannaBe · 02/04/2007 12:54

the guy on iranian tv last night said the same ...

KathyMCMLXXII · 02/04/2007 12:54

I thought the stuff in the letter about how kind and gracious the Iraqi people are was so obviously dictated. It just sounded far more like the kind of thing a Middle Eastern person would say than a British person.