Iran holding those British soldiers may be turning into a crisis. I am in no way comfortable with (or capable of) even a half-hearted attempt at analysis of this situation, but I will say that things like this:
“The incident in 2004 was less tense, there were fewer gathering clouds, so they may well be held for longer,” said Alex Bigham, of the Foreign Policy Center. “There are probably also internal political battles in Iran over what to do next.”
Some hardline groups in Iran suggest the case could be a bargaining chip in its nuclear and other rows with the West, exposing what analysts said were divisions with more moderate voices who want to build bridges abroad, not exacerbate tension.
In Iran, a crowd of hardline students chanting “Death to Britain” gathered on Tuesday on the shoreline close to where the Britons were captured and demanded firm action against the sailors, Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported.
make me nervous.
I hope we don’t see a general conflagration in the Middle East.