There are several factors to bear in mind here. There were 15 naval personnel up against three Iranian gunships – resistance would not have achieved anything but bloodshed. Communications had apparently broken down between the naval personnel and the mother ship.
But what is worrying is the lack of decisive force by the mother ship. The commanding officer is likely to have been instructed not to intervene. It is therefore likely to have been a political judgement that prevented HMS Cornwall from pursuing the kidnappers.
Americans may be bemused about why the British have become suddenly weak in the face of Iranian aggression. The lack of political will is due to the power vacuum at the heart of the British government. Blair is due to step down as prime minister in a couple of months and does not appear to be willing to take any decision that could force a difficult situation on his successor (who is likely to be the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown). Iraq tarnished Blair and Brown probably doesn’t want to be tarnished by a messy conflict with Iran.
The problem is that this enables Iran to extend its sphere of influence over Iraqi territorial waters, which could enable Iran to close Iraq’s access to the Gulf every time the Iraqis go against Tehran’s interests. British indecisiveness in defending Iraqi territorial waters could bolster Iranian attempts to extend its influence across the Shia crescent, from Pakistan to Lebanon. This gives it a very strong regional power base to export terrorism to the West, as it has done in Iraq, Lebanon and Israel and the Arab Gulf states.
