The Brits Failure to Act Quickly Will Lead to a Prolonged Hostage Crisis

The Brits are bemoaning their lack of options now that Iran is firmly in control of 15 of their sailors who now star daily in the latest Iranian propaganda films:

The Government has few options if it wants to pressure Iran into releasing the captured Britons.
Military action is unfeasible without American support and so is a military blockade of the Gulf. Unless the United Nations shows more rigour, sanctions are unlikely to hurt Iran in the short term.

There is a feeling that the 15 could be in for a long stay in Iran and face the nightmare prospect for Britain of a show trial.

Washington has remained largely subdued on the crisis but some commentators have made clear that the situation would have been very different if it had been 15 American sailors.

I think that's probably true. I can't imagine the commander of one of our ships desperately radioing for instructions while members of his crew were illegally taken captive. What I can imagine is little pieces of Iranians and Iranian boats flying very high in the air as the U.S. vessel opened fire on them. End of crisis.

The Brits are going to have to take some aggressive military action, even if it may means the loss of some or all of their hostages, if they are to hope to maintain any standing in the world. Otherwise, every British citizen around the globe will be a target for the next country or terrorist organization looking to staff up their propaganda film industry.