This is interesting. I wonder if, as the headline asks, it was just a local decision, or if Ahmadinejad knows something about it. Maybe, while he's in New York, he should be detained for questioning.

Not for long, of course. Just until the British sailors are released unharmed.

[Evening update]

Maybe Ahmadinehad had a similar thought. As noted in comments, he's decided to postpone his trip to the Big Apple. Which perhaps makes one think that he got caught by surprise himself.

The 1979 hostage crisis started as a 'local decision.' Since the coalition captured a Qods force officer in Iraq and another one disappeared in Istanbul, Iran has been desperate to capture some allied troops in return. On January 20, 4 Americans were seized by troops wearing US uniforms. Could that have been an attempted kidnapping gone wrong?

Thanks for hearing me out. This week it is hard to think nice things about communists.

This week it is hard to think nice things about communists.

As opposed to some other week?

The 1979 hostage crisis started as a 'local decision.'

And, lest we forget, one of the locals that made that decision was Ahmadinejad.

The NYPD should arrest him, if only for the entertainment value. I mean, it would be such fun watching the people who sacked the Teheran embassy complain about a breach of diplomatic norms...

He's not coming.