Iran Won WHEN They Kidnapped the Britians

Iran has clearly won this round of their fight against the West when they kidnapped the British military personnel in Iraqi waters. The reason is simply that Iran can end the 'crisis' at any time by simply releasing the hostages with suffering little or no consequences. The only risk Iran incurred was that the initial seizure could have resulted in an immediate military response. But with the United Kingdom wanting to leave Iraq and the continuing self-inflicted implosion of the Bush Administration, Iran acted with almost zero risk.

The real question is, what was the Iranian point? While this act seems only to be another Iranian demonstration of The West's impotence towards Iran, I think its real objective was to prove to Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the rest of the Persian Gulf Arab States that Iran can go wherever it wants in the Persian Gulf and can't be stopped now, and where will Iran go and what will it do after the US and UK leave Iraq?