Iran takes sailboat racers hostages

Reuters:

Iran will take serious measures against five British yachtsmen detained in the Gulf if it proves they had "evil intentions," a close aide to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday.

Relations between Britain and have been dogged by tension in recent years over a range of issues, from Tehran's nuclear program to Iranian allegations of British involvement in post-election violence in June this year.

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Britain stressed the five men were civilians and played down parallels with a 2007 incident when Iran seized eight British Royal Navy sailors and seven marines off its coast.

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Iran's Revolutionary Guards confirmed on Tuesday their naval forces had detained five Britons in the Gulf, Fars News Agency said.

"Confronting foreign forces and detaining them in the Gulf is the Revolutionary Guards' duty," said Ali Reza Tangsiri, a commander of the Guards' naval forces.

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Who in their right mind thinks the crew of a racing sailboat is a "foreign force?" That is just nuts. The crew of a racing sailboat is focused on winning a yacht race and not on politics. It constitutes zero threat to a country like Iran unless they happen to have a boat in the race. The chances of that happening are remote.

What Iran is really doing is acting like a troll in the waters of the Persian Gulf.