Guests of the Mahdi?
Posted by Dean Barnett | 8:46 AM
http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/g/1fbe7966-e91e-4e36-9bd9-8d46aa069148
Hot off the Dow Jones newswire. This may be nothing, it may be 1979 redux, or it may be a provocation that turns into a legitimate casus belli. Reuters reports:
LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - Iran captured fifteen British Royal Navy personnel during a “routine boarding operation” in Iraqi waters on Friday, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said.
Iran’s ambassador in London has been summoned and Britain is demanding the immediate safe release of the sailors.
“At approximately 1030 Iraqi time this morning, 15 British naval personnel, engaged in routine boarding operations of merchant shipping in Iraqi territorial waters ... were seized by Iranian naval vessels,” the ministry said in a statement.
“We are urgently pursuing this matter with the Iranian authorities at the highest level and on the instructions of the Foreign Secretary, the Iranian ambassador has been summoned to the Foreign Office. The British government is demanding the immediate and safe return of our people and equipment.”
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Here’s a Breitbart link to the same story.
Iranians seize 15 British sailors
http://breitbart.com/article.php?id=paSailorsFri12Iransailors&show_article=1&cat=uk&catnum=0
Fifteen Royal Navy sailors have been seized by Iranian warships in Iraqi territorial waters, the Ministry of Defence said.
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has summoned the Iranian ambassador in London to demand their immediate release, a spokesman said.
The incident happened following a routine inspection of a merchant ship off Iraq.
The MoD said the incident happened at around 10.30am local time.
"The boarding party had completed a successful inspection of a merchant ship when they and their two boats were surrounded and escorted by Iranian vessels into Iranian territorial waters," a spokesman said.
"We are urgently pursuing this matter with the Iranian authorities at the highest level and on the instructions of the Foreign Secretary, the Iranian ambassador has been summoned to the Foreign Office.
"The British Government is demanding the immediate and safe return of our people and equipment."
Thank you for the links. Fox had it headlining their page as well. Maybe this will be different then previous incidents where we looked the other way. I certainly hope it is and that the Brits and the U.S. stand up to this. I'll spot check the TV news at 6pm today and each day for a week and we'll see where the story goes.