The US imperialists and their British allies have, in recent weeks, stepped up provocations against Iran, increasing their naval presence in the vicinity of Iran and violating Iran’s airspace. On March 23, 2007, Iran acted decisively by arresting fifteen British naval personnel abroad two British naval boats which, it said, had intruded into Iranian waters at Arvandrud.

While the UK made a hue and cry claiming that the sailors were seized when they were about a kilometer or so inside Iraqi waters, they did not have a satisfactory explanation as to what British naval vessels were doing in the waters so close to Iran in the first place. In an area where the boundary itself is very complicated, they had no business to be in the sea belonging to Iran and Iraq in the first place unless their intentions were hostile.

Moreover, this incident had been preceded by a massive build up of heavily–armed US and British naval presence in the Gulf region, ostensibly to “put pressure” upon Iran. Only a few weeks before, the UN Security council had, at the instance of the US, invoked sanctions against Iran for not giving up its pursuit of atomic energy. While there have been many aggravations against Iran in the past, in recent weeks the Anglo–American imperialists have really stepped up provocation, which can be seen from the following incidents:

• On November 1, 2006, at 21:30 local time, two British Black Hawks (helicopters) from Royal Navy hovered at the height of 150 meters at Khorramshahr, violating Iranian airspace and they entered Iraqi territory after 10 minutes;
• On January 27, 2007 a British helicopter flew over the mouth of Arvandrud (Arvand river) violating Iran's airspace and left the area after a warning from Iranian coast guards
• Three British Navy boats entered Khor Mousa mouth in Iranian territorial waters on February 28, 2007
• On March 27, 2007, the US Navy began its largest demonstration of force in the Persian Gulf since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, led by a pair of aircraft carriers and backed by warplanes flying simulated attack manoeuvres off the coast of Iran. The manoeuvres bring together two strike groups of US warships and more than 100 US warplanes to conduct simulated air warfare in the crowded Gulf shipping lanes
• On Sunday, April 1, 2007, US war planes violated Iranian airspace in the province of Khuzestan

Thus, while the British were using the disputed spatial position of its naval boats when they were seized to claim that the Iranians had acted “illegally”, it cannot be disputed that the Anglo–Americans have very deliberately stepped up warmongering and intimidation of the people and government of Iran and the other countries of the region.

After a period of about twelve days, during which the British government was forced to enter into direct negotiations with the government of Iran, the sailors were released by the Iranian authorities on the eve of Easter “as a gift to the British people”.

By acting decisively and seizing the offending naval vessels and arresting the sailors on board, the government of Iran has shown that it will not tolerate violations of its sovereignty. For standing up boldly against the Anglo–American intimidation, the government of Iran won the admiration of peoples and governments all over the world. In contrast, the Anglo–American imperialists stood exposed as bullies and provocateurs.