Ever have a really bad feeling about something?

The present hostage situation in Iran is the one that’s giving me that right now.

Regardless of whether they were in Iranian water or not (and I’m pretty sure they weren’t) the manner in which they are being used is taking everyone toward an outcome that no-one can afford. The papers are certainly playing a particular angle to inflame things here, but there is no doubt that the Iranians are using them as hostages and bargaining tools and that they are not merely being treated as foreign nationals that have strayed into sovereign territory.

I find it hard to see exactly what the Iranians can achieve if they keep pursuing this: surely it will spill over into a war that they cannot win, and with far less opposition than there was for the war in Iraq. Can the Iranian government really have failed to understand that the west is finding this action offensive, and will unite rather than squabble?

The world doesn’t need a repeat of the Iraq war, and with possibly much higher stakes. I hope British have good intelligence about this, because some very difficult decisions are going to have to be made soon. Lets pray for a righteous and peaceful resolution.