What do we think about the current crisis over the capture of Royal Navy personnel by Iran?
It’s arguable whether they were in Iranian waters or not. Personally, I think they weren’t and Iran seized the chance to hold hostages and get concessions granted. The marines appearing on the TV, while looking clean and well-fed, are being brainwashed and forced to ask for these concessions. They’re also being threatened with ‘punishment’ for their so-called transgression, according to the Iranian diplomat in Moscow, and ‘legal proceedings’ have been started. While legal proceedings gives the hostage-taking some credibility, I still think the way the marines are being asked to read out confessions and write letters asking for the release of prisoners is wrong. This shouldn’t be the way a country conducts diplomacy. And yes, I am aware of the ‘irony’ of the way America treats prisoners in Guantanamo being similar to this. But these are Britons not Americans and hostage-taking is NOT the way to deal with grievances.
