What in the world?!!

What in the world is Iran's government thinking by this new (well, 8 days old) action? I am talking about their arrest of the English soldiers in the disputed waters, then publishing the apology letters and videos. What is going on??? What do they think they can gain by this?
OK so somethings I learned are:
* According to a treaty between Iran and Iraq in 1975 the Britons were in Iran's water - however after the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war, Saddam Hossein invalidated the treaty. After that, the waters have been disputed.
* Supposedly this is Iran's way of showing they have power. This is a negotiation tool for bargaining the Iranian diplomats which are captured and imprisoned in Iraq.
But I don't get it. Regardless of where the Britons were, what is the point? Their actions mirror the way the Iraqi kidnappings were conducted - the televised apologies and confessions. Do they think they can gain sympathy and empathy for their plight using these tactics? Then again, except for this, would the other countries listen to Iran?
I don't know. I do know the situation in Iran is becoming worst and worst. Something has to happen.
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ok, this is a couple of hours after I wrote the above post - and I am a bit more calmed down. It is amazing how the media can influence the thoughts and feelings of people. When they are continually looking at an issue unilaterally, it seriously constrains your vision. As you can tell, I had been listening to the radio this morning!! :-P and this was even NPR and not some right winged propaganda crap.

I found the following article from The Independent to be very interesting. It is kind of cool because it starts with the first charter of human rights by Cyrus. So Alvaro and Juan you both should read this article - and to the end, not just the first part. It is a much more balanced view of things and though it does not by any means excuse the actions of Iran, it does bring more of a global view of the context to this act. Very interesting.