BRITISH ASKED U.S. TO NOT PROVOKE A WAR

"The US offered to take military action on behalf of the 15 British sailors and marines held by Iran, including buzzing Iranian Revolutionary Guard positions with warplanes... Pentagon officials asked their British counterparts: what do you want us to do? They offered a series of military options... The British declined the offer and said the US could calm the situation by staying out of it. London also asked the US to tone down military exercises that were already under way in the Gulf... At the request of the British, the two US carrier groups, totalling 40 ships plus aircraft, modified their exercises to make them less confrontational..."

"A senior Iranian source with close ties to the Revolutionary Guard, told the Guardian: "If this had been between Iranian and American soldiers it could have been the beginning of an accidental war."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,2051971,00.html