British Captives Standoff Stiffens

London and Tehran and ratcheted up the rhetoric over the 15 British soldiers being held captive in Iran yesterday, the LA Times reports: Britain got the UN Security Council to issue a statement of "grave concern," while Tehran released more video of sailors professing guilt and issued charts and satellite readings to prove UK ships crossed into their waters six times.

Marine experts told the Times there's no clear border between Iranian and Iraqi waters, citing a long history of dispute and confusion and the lack of a treaty between the two nations. English officials had hoped for a more strongly worded UN statement. including the words "deplore" and "immediate release" rather than "early resolution." (More Iraq stories.)