COMPARISON. There was some question in comments yesterday regarding the appropriateness of the Iranian arrest of 15 British sailors and marines in the Gulf. Recall the Hainan Island Incident, from 2001? An EP-3 Aries II spyplane had been flying near Chinese airspace when it was shadowed by several PLAN J-8 fighters. One of the fighters clipped the wing of the EP-3, damaging the American aircraft and destroying the Chinese. The American crew of 24 landed without authorization on Hainan Island, in Chinese territory. The Chinese kept the Americans until the United States issued an apology, ten days later. American diplomats were given access to the crew the day after the crash, and while the crew members were interrogated none were forced to give televised confessions.
Compared to the current situation of British sailors in Iran, the violation of Chinese airspace (through the landing, if not through the initial spying) was clear, as was the mission of espionage that the aircraft was engaged in. Moreover, the incident involved the death of a Chinese citizen and the destruction of several million dollars worth of Chinese state property. Nevertheless, Chinese behavior was considerably more subdued than Iranian has been thus far, in spite of some pretty serious questions about the Iranian account of the capture.
Now, Iran has suggested that it will end the standoff if Britain apologizes. Given that the British don't, apparently, believe that they were in the wrong, I'm not sure that we're going to see that. The Iranians have also threatened to put the captured sailors and marines on trial, which the Chinese never did with the detained airmen. Thus, this still strikes me as a case either of Iranian overreaction or of Iranian brinksmanship, and one that's hardly sensible given the delicate diplomatic situation that in which Iran currently finds itself.
--Robert Farley
