The Iran Issue

I have been following the Iran issue lately with some interest. I've recently begun reading a book on Iranian Blogging and I've gotten a bit of insight into the minds of regular Iranians and views of their government. So the news coming out as of late with respect to the "Iranian Crisis" has sparked an interest that I'm usually not prone to. I could care less to be honest what goes on in the middle east. I shouldn't say care less more like confused by it all.

Anywho as anyone knows with the news of today Iran has released the Britons whom they 'captured' in Iranian water. My partner and I have been talking about this issue for some time privately--I haven't written about it because it is such a complicated issue that I don't fully understand. We've both thought that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 'captured' the sailors to prove a point--and I use capture loosely as we're of the thought they kidnapped with purpose.

We're of the belief that there was some intended message behind the kidnappings. We think that they west in underestimating Iran and the steps it'll go to get it's needs met. We've always thought that it's Iran telling the world how it's done and not the world telling Iran how it's done.

Well today in a Time Magazine article our thoughts were confirmed. Not that I believe everything I read but it's interesting to see that other people believe Iran is sending some very powerful messages.

Time believed it was sending three messages:

The capture of the Britons seemed designed to send three messages to London, and
more importantly, to Washington:

Don't think about attacking Iran, because
it has the capacity to threaten Western interests in the Gulf and throughout the
Middle East, directly as well as through allies in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine;

Expect Iran to instigate trouble if the West continues to punish Iran for
what it sees simply as exercising as its legal right to nuclear technology; and,

Iran will play tit-for-tat if U.S. forces continue arresting Iranian
officials working inside Iraq, as in the Jan. 11 raid on an Iranian consular
facility in Erbil where five Iranians were detained.

The full article can be found here.

It'll be interesting to see how things play out in the next little while.