The seizure of the boarding party carries echoes of an incident in June 2004 when a group of eight marines and sailors were held for three days after being seized by the Iranians in the Shatt al-Arab waterway.
They were paraded blindfolded on television and later freed.
http://strata-sphere.com/blog/index.php/archives/3555
There's no question that incidents have occurred before, but the context has changed.
Sure there had been tens of thousands protesting in the streets before Ahmadinejad was selected to enforce discipline. But he's not where he was in 2004 with the mullahs.
And he's been denied a modus operandus to achieve his ends.
It's plausible that this is something bigger. He may well expect the West to give in and you may very well be right.
But it's not a repetition if the foundation changes.