IRAN CHARGES BRITONS WITH ESPIONAGE

Washington, DC (TLS). Iran announced on Saturday that it intends to place the British soldiers it kidnapped on trial for espionage. The announcement came on the same day that the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution approving new sanctions against the rogue, extremist Muslim nation.


Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was scheduled to speak before the U.N. chamber on Saturday prior to the Security Council's vote but cancelled the trip in the aftermath of his nation's kidnapping of British soldiers and the subsequent build-up of U.S. and British forces in the Persian Gulf.

American and British forces in the Gulf remain on high alert as tensions between Iran and the West continue to rise. Great Britain has demanded the full, unconditional release of its servicemen, who were captured off the coast of Kuwait. Kuwaiti observers insist the soldiers were in Iraqi waters. Iran insists they were in Iranian waters.

Somehow, mysteriously, Iran claims it has a 'confession' from the kidnapped men claiming that they were in Iranian waters. Observers in the area dispute that claim, which suggests that Iran has placed inappropriate pressure on the soldiers.

The news today that Iran plans to place British servicemen on trial for 'espionage' is a serious development in this showdown, one which points to the stark reality that we are nearing a major crisis in the Gulf.

The West cannot allow a terrorist nation to place on trial any of our servicemen for crimes as serious as the one with which they are charged. Given the present circumstances within the Gulf, the British soldiers had every reason to be where they were as we attempt to secure Iraq and insulate it from terrorist insurgents from Iran.

We must remember that in extremist Muslim states, the death penalty is not reserved for just murder but is commonly used for a variety of crimes, including doing nothing more than speaking negatively about Islam. Espionage would be considered a most serious offense, and thus, these fundamentalists will not hesitate to apply the death penalty to the kidnapped soldiers when they are found guilty, and we can rest assured that they WILL be found guilty.

Thus, the West cannot wait and deliver a measured response. The response must be swift, sure, resolute, and devastating. We can begin by delivering an ultimatum to Ahmadinejad--either release the kidnapped British soldiers or face the wrath of the massive arsenal of various types of modern weaponry that the U.S. and Great Britain have at their disposal.

If that means threatening Ahmadinejad with nuclear annihilation, then so be it. The West MUST show Iran NOW that we will not tolerate any more of their saber-rattling threats or their despicable acts of terror.