Iran Vs Britain

Iran is refusing to allow British diplomats to see the 15 kidnapped sailors. They have refused even to let diplomats know where they are being held.

Iranian officials have tried to defend their kidnapping by claiming that the boats were in Iranian waters. They even claim that the sailors "confessed". But, to be honest, even if that were true, any other country would have simply escorted the boats back again not kidnapped the sailors.

The BBC reports that:

Students belonging to the paramilitary Basij group, which is close to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have called for the Britons to be put on trial.

Meanwhile, effectively buried by this kidnapping, is news that the attacks on British troops in Iraq are being orchestrated by Iran. Col Justin Masherevski has revealed that "the vast majority of the violence against us is inspired from outside Iraq" and that "the people here very much believe that is Iran".

An extract from the BBC article:

"All the circumstantial evidence points to Iranian involvement in the violence here in Basra which is disrupting the city to a great extent."

The standard of weapons being used against British troops was such that it could only have come from outside Iraq, he [Col Masherevski] said.

"These are not old munitions being used from the Iran-Iraq war, they're much more modern - some of them produced in 2006. "The locals are telling us these are coming in from Iran."

And it was believed Iranian agents were paying "up to $500 a month for young Baswari men to attack us", he added.

Finally, Robert Tait, in Tehran, has written an article for the Observer explaining that the Iranians hate Britain more than America or Israel. He says:

It may be news in the UK, where most assume that top of Iran's most-hated list is the US or Israel, but in reality it is perfidious Albion that in the Iranian world view is regarded as the dark mover behind the scenes, arranging acts deeply inimical to the Islamic Republic.

Here we have Iran, a country whose people hates us, kidnapping our sailors, arming and paying for people to kill our soldiers and all the while working on building a nuclear bomb. Is it time yet to take proper action?