Hopefully Iran and Britain are getting closer to negotiating the release of the British Naval personnel.The incident was caused when the crew of two British Naval patrol boats were arrested by Iran, but the crisis was caused by the subsequent inept handling of the affair by the British Prime Minister. Anyone who read the Islamic Republic News Agency’s initial press releases would have seen Iran was seeking a low key negotiated resolution. It only became a crisis when Big Mouth Blair claimed the sailors were arrested in Iraqi territorial waters. No one with smallest amount of common sense or knowledge of the subject would have made such a statement. But it is typical of Blair’s approach to diplomacy - let us not forget that Blair has taken Britain into more wars than any other “Peacetime Prime Minister”.
Why was it foolish for Blair to claim the incident occurred in Iraqi territorial waters? The Maritime boundary between Iraq and Iran was established by the Algiers Accord in 1975. However at the time it was recognised the border, in the open sea outside the Shatt al-Arab waterway, was defined not in reference to a well established coastline, but to moving mudflats; consequently it was agreed the position of the border should be reviewed every ten years. No such review took place as Saddam Hussein “tore up” the agreement in 1980, at the start of the 1980 - 1988 Iran Iraq war. Consequently neither Iran nor Britain can claim the boats were in Iran or Iraq waters.
The situation was aggravated when the UK briefed the press using maps which delineated the boundary with a thick red line. It must be realised, the question of the location of the border is as sensitive an issue to Iran as the ownership of the Falklands and Gibraltar is to Britain.
Over the weekend, Britain seemed to recognise the prudence of following traditional and well established diplomatic procedures to establish contacts with Iran. This however was not helped by Blabber Mouth Bush, referring to the sailors as “British Hostages”. Then his partner Blair could not resist throwing in his three pennyworths with his belligerent mutterings.
This World will be a safer place when Blair and Bush finally leave office. Hopefully they will shut up long enough for the diplomats to do their work.
