Remember a few weeks ago when the Iranians took some British sailors hostage, and then let them go with some nice suits and some gift bags. Apparently they were about to offer some Australians sailors the same courtesy. The Aussies turn them down:
The capture of the British crew in March developed into a major diplomatic incident before their release was negotiated.
But BBC reporter Frank Gardner, a security specialist, reported the Australians managed to avoid a similar incident – pointing their guns at the Iranians and used “colourful language” before a gunboat withdrew.
“What I’ve been told by several sources, military sources, (is that) there was a similar encounter, in this case between the Royal Australian Navy and Iranian gunboats, some months ago, or at least some months prior to the seizing of the British sailors,” Gardner said on ABC radio today.
“The Australians escaped capture by climbing back on board the ship they’d just searched. I’m told that they set up their weapons.
Obviously the Aussies had seen the wardrobe the Brits were forced to wear.
Gardner said the British should not be embarrassed about the incident, but the issue was whether military intelligence had been passed on.
“The point of this story is not that the Aussies were fantastically brave and the Brits were a bunch of cowards, although I’m sure some people will interpret (it that way),” he said.
