"There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that they were in Iraqi territorial waters," Commodore Lambert said of the British sailors. "Equally, the Iranians may claim they were in Iranian waters." - from Reuters

Seems to me that there is plenty of confusion about the boundaries out there and who was where when. Bottom line is that Iran has 15 British military personnel. Maybe Britain should just say, "sorry" and hope their soldiers are returned safely or negotiate for a prisoner exchange.

I don't think Britain is in a position to dig in its heels when there is so much ambiguity and when there are 15 lives involved. Chalk it up to confusion (I certainly am and conflicting accounts of the situation). I don't think anyone really knows for sure. Its definitely too close to call.

Is it worth starting a war? Maybe Britain could start by apologizing to its citizens for providing insufficient cover for their military personnel in a disputed waterway. Iran was obviously waiting for this.

Perhaps it is Iraq who should mediate this one.