The story of the 15 British sailors and marines’ capture in the Gulf on March 23 is turning into a tragicomedy. Iran’s state TV channels kindly assisted by the satellite Arab-language Al-Jazeera channel are happily showing the Britons “confessing” in front of the cameras, admitting to the “trespassing” on the Iranian state border and offering their “sincere apologies to the Iranian people.”

Britain, in turn, accuses Iran of “manipulating” the United Kingdom servicemen and women for dirty propaganda purposes and is eager to prove to the international community that the Iranian government has deliberately orchestrated the blatant provocation. Each of the sides provides detailed maps and schemes and even satellite photographs proving that it was the other who trespassed on the its waters.

This public squabble looks ridiculous to anyone who has studied the issue even to a minimum extent. First of all, no one can tell how exactly the long-disputed waters just outside of the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab river are divided between Iran and Iraq. Funnily enough, no one has really cared until recently.

What gives a special zest to the news is the presence of a woman among the arrested sailors and marines from the Cornwall frigate. Leading Seaman Faye Turney’s pictures in a Muslim Punjab which her faithful custodians have no doubt made her wear are in enormous demand with international newsmakers.

Meanwhile, this melodrama with a captive fair lady dressed in British naval uniform shields very serious issues beyond the London-Tehran tensions. First of all, as well-informed observers note, the capture of British sailors could not have been accidental.

Knowing the mentality and traditions of the current ruling elite in Iran, one can be almost sure that the order was issued at the top. Indicatively, the Cornwall crew members were not seized by a regular Iranian navy vessel, but intercepted by patrol boats belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGC), a radical force that operates separately from the country's regular navy and is directly subordinate to Iran’s top Muslim leaders.

The operation against the Britons has had several goals. First of all, it was designed to pressure the West after the UN Security Council adopted the resolution denouncing Tehran’s refusal to halt uranium enrichment. Second, this operation has an important internal political significance as it came as Iran is being threatened by a possible U.S. invasion, so Tehran officials naturally want to rally the nation. Sure enough, a noisy student demonstration has taken place outside the British Embassy in Tehran, with the traditional stone-throwing and cracker explosions.

Third, according to some experts, the arrest of the British sailors could reflect the controversy in the Iranian government. Iranian “hardliners” could have done it to curb the “moderate wing” politicians’ attempts to come to terms with London and Washington. Indeed, it would be much more difficult to do now. Iranian opposition will also find itself in straits in the context of this patriotic euphoria.

Paradoxically, the Tehran “war party’s” interests coincide with Washington’s here. The U.S. Congress has recently passed a unanimous resolution censuring the capture of 15 Britons in Iraq’s waters and demanded of Tehran the “immediate safe return” of the people. The requirement has been confirmed by large-scale military maneuvers conducted near the Iranian border. The United States, Britain's chief ally, has built up its naval forces in the Gulf in a show of strength directed at Iran.

In fact, Washington has been provoking the Iranian government for a while now. Suffice it to recall the arrest of five high-ranking IRGC officers in Iraq accused of supplying Shia militias with special explosive devices for attacking U.S. armored vehicles. Or the disappearance of former Iranian intelligence general Ali-Reza Asgari who either defected or was kidnapped by the CIA.

The choice of British sailors rather than U.S. servicemen could have been accidental; or it could have been deliberate. First, the U.S. and Britain are often perceived as an integral whole – especially in the Islamic world – due to their similar political courses. Second, Great Britain, a former colonial empire which “oppressed the Muslims,” could itself be a perfect target for public humiliation.

True, the detention of the Britons is not yet a proper “casus belli.” The arrested sailors will probably be released soon. But the incident could become a prologue for a new armed conflict in the Gulf. Influential circles in both Washington and Tehran seem to be interested in it, albeit fo different reasons.