From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

The latest Middle East crisis is heating up.

Hello again, I'm Orin-Aulny, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

Iran has released another videotape with a British sailor apologizing for entering Iranian waters.

He and 14 others are still being held by Iran.

Britain's Tony Blair calls Iran's actions disgusting violations of international law that will isolate Iran from the rest of the world.

At the same time, both Iran and the U.S.

are conducting naval maneuvers in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. with two aircraft carriers and dozens

of other ships. On to the point, what are the prospects for resolution or escalation, as neither

side shows any sign of backing down? What's the history of British and American relations with oil-rich Iran?

First, the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica

and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,

whose contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John D. and Catherine

T. MacArthur Foundation. Hello again. I'm on only back with To the Point. Iran continues to hold

British Marines and sailors as the U.S. and Iranian navies hold maneuvers in the Persian Gulf.

On To the Point, as the crisis escalates, what are the prospects for resolution or for escalation?

What's the history of Anglo-American

relations with this oil-rich Middle Eastern country? On reporter's notebook, French presidential

candidates go on the internet for a second life. First, this news update at Guantanamo Bay today,

David Hicks, the so-called Australian Taliban, was sentenced to seven years, but not

...