It will be interesting to find out the specific circumstances surrounding the seizing (and subsequent release) of the American naval ship and crew operating in the Gulf of Oman. Absent a clear and intentional invasion of their territory, it seems like the Iranian actions violated all conventions regarding ships at sea and, technically, constituted an act of war against the United States.
I doubt this would have occurred under a Republican President. Do you?
If what you claim about your interest about learning the "...specific circumstances surrounding the seizing (and subsequent release) of the American naval ship and crew operating in the Gulf...", then you should start by educating yourself. The two boats, not a ship as you claim, entered the territorial waters of Iran at Farsi Island and loitered there. That was a clear violation of their territorial waters and the boat crews, navigator(s) and boat commanders would have been briefed on that information and NOT to violate same before operations were initiated near those waters. Here is what Iran communicated to the UN in 1993 regarding the UN Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) and "innocent passage" in territorial waters or "harmless passing" as the Iranians define it:
Law of Marine Areas of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea
Chapter One, Article 5, Harmless passing;
"Except to the provisions of the article (9), harmless passing of foreign vessels form the territorial waters of Iran, so long as it is not a disturbing cause to the discipline, tranquility and security of the country, is subject to the terms of "harmless passing". Except to the emergency state, passing (from the territorial waters) should be done in a usual speed and without any interruption."
Article 9 noted above could well apply because these were foreign military vessels loitering in Iran's territorial waters;
Chapter One, Article 9, Exceptions to the harmless passing;
"Passing of warships, submarines, ships containing nuclear fuel or any other kind of floating, and ships and submarines carrying nuclear, or other dangerous or harmful materials with respect to the protection of environment, and also other foreign fishing vessels from the territorial waters is subject to an earlier approval of the authoritative officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Submarines have to pass over the sea while raising their flag up.
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http://faolex.fao.org/docs/texts/ira1666.doc >
You have been shown their was a provocation on the part of the US Naval forces and Iran acted lawfully under the authority of the LOS Convention so your assertion that "...Iranian actions violated all conventions regarding ships at sea and, technically, constituted an act of war against the United States...." is dead wrong and uninformed.
