a small dose of reality

The sailors are being probed for their naval knowledge.  Not known as a top naval power, Iran is using this as an opportunity to study naval strategy and technology.  "They make only have been sailors on a small ship, but we are learning a lot and it has only been a week", said Rear Admiral Sajjad Kouchaki.

Iran appeared to take a step further by signaling that it might put the British on trial. Gholamreza Ansari, Tehran's ambassador to Moscow, told Russian television that legal proceedings have begun against the sailors and marines and that they could "face punishment" if found guilty of illegally being in Iranian waters, a statement that triggered concern at a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Germany.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made his own first public comments on the standoff Saturday, accusing Britain of arrogance and complaining that it should not have "shouted in different international councils," according to Iranian state radio. "This is not the legal and logical way" to act, he said in Khuzestan, a province that borders the Persian Gulf.

"Even if I wanted to give them back, they wouldn't go.  They are having a ball writing letters and making movies."  Regarding a potential trial, he said, "Iraq knows nothing about trials.  Here in Iran, we have hanging apparatus in the courtroom to discourage acquittals, I mean perjury.

Copywrite 2007  -  Barry G.