Iran and British sailors

I was on the road for about 8 hours yesterday, so I was listening to mainstream reports about Iran arresting British sailors on both AM radio and NPR. If the facts matter and you want a better understanding of the situation, it'd be a good idea to read the Guardian's Q&A., in which you get an amount of context not approved by the mainstream media in both the US and UK.

Did the incident take place in a diplomatically sensitive area?

Yes. Iraq and Iran have disputed navigation rights on the Shatt al-Arab since 1935, when an international commission gave Iraq control.
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What are British naval forces doing in the Gulf?

British ships are working with a US naval force that has recently expanded with the arrival of a second aircraft carrier battle group, led by USS Stennis. The ships are engaged in routine patrols, and the west has naval forces in the area as a matter of course to ensure the safe passage of oil tankers.

The US is committed to protecting Iraq's southern oil terminals against attack until the Iraqi navy can prove it is capable of ensuring the six miles of shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz stay open. Up to 80% of Europe's trade with Asia, and a substantial proportion of the world's oil and gas, are shipped through local waters.

US officials say they want to send a message to Iran that America has plenty of military muscle in reserve despite its commitments in Iraq.

A large western naval presence can be seen as part of a war of nerves as the US puts pressure on Iran to halt the nuclear work the Bush administration believes is for an atomic bomb.

I doubt the British military personnel are in any real danger, although I don't understand Iran's motivation for making the woman wear an Islamic headscarf and having her appear in a video. Though I do understand the reason Iran is trying to counter the military build-up in the gulf that a power system naturally does when it is threatened. They don't have the negotiating power of a nuke, so they take prisoners. If Iran was building up its military presence in the Gulf of Mexico, the US government would never take Iranian sailors prisoner. They'd just bomb the aircraft carriers to the bottom of the sea, and not one mainstream reporter would bat an eye.