British PM Tony Blair says he won't negotiate and is calling for the "unconditional return" of the 15 British troops held hostage by Iran.

Iran's "top negotiator," Ali Larijani, is quoted as saying that "British leaders have miscalculated this issue." This strikes me as a classic case of projection. I can't speak to how Iran's calculated piece of aggression is playing out domestically, but internationally it seems to have turned out badly for them, and appears to be on the verge of getting much worse.

Blair has been firm but has gone out of his way to avoid backing the Iranians into a corner. Thus far Iran has refused to take the easy way out, and they've compounded the problem by releasing video footage of the troops and scuttling the proposed release of Faye Turney.

Meanwhile, the U.S. administration continues to play it cool -- possibly at Blair's request. To my knowledge there's been no official statement from either the President or the Secretary of State. And while there appears to be some reluctance on the part of the UN Security Council to issue a statement condemning Iran's actions, it's very hard to see how this can go on much longer without at least some countries, probably including the U.S., stepping forward and ratcheting up the pressure on Iran.

If there's one good thing that's come from this nasty, unfortunate incident, it's that the Iranians have once again reminded us all what bad actors they are on the world stage. Here's hoping that the Brits return home safely and the Iranians are held to account for such transparently deceitful and aggressive behavior.