Britain and Iran

While British Diplomatic staff are on their way back home from the Persian Gulf, some consideration can be given to events of the last few days. The reaction of the Foreign Office was tough, and more has to come, as the Foreign Minister Hague stated yesterday. Probably, future actions will also involve other European countries, and the EU will have a special role in setting and implementing economic and financial sanctions, while both the US and Isreal are supporting harder plans.
The young demostrators storming the British Embassy in Tehran can be satisfied with their actions, and the media coverage remembered events of more than 30 years ago. But an additional and different explanation can be found looking at the Iranian domestic dynamics. Next Majlis elections are approaching quite fast, and the March 2012 term is already on the political table - the first elections since the much debated 2009 Presidential ones. With the reformist movements put in a corner at the moment, the real game will be played among the conservative groups. President Ahmadinejad is in troubled waters: his economic reforms are not improving the internal economic situation and his relations with part of the regime establishment and the Supreme Leader are not as good as a couple of years ago. Since Khamenei will represent the decisive player of the game as usual, the conservative factions are fighting to attract the Supreme Leader's support, and even storming a foreign Embassy could become an important signal in this struggle, along with other foreign policy issues. The Iranian population will probably face harsh times in the coming months, but some persons in Tehran smile looking at the empty British compound.  

Russia betrays the world again

Russia has started supplying nuclear fuel to Iran - which gives the Islamic nation just the pride it needs to feel victorious in its valent fight to gain nuclear wesapons soon.

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Seeing things from an Iranian Perspective

This is an interesting story by an NCF member who is very much one of the team - Mr Martin Bell - This was published at the time of the Iran - UK crisis over HMS Cornwall and really does give an opportunity to "see things from an Iranian perspective":

The confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers at the head of the Persian Gulf has two names; the Coast of the Arabs is called shat al a'rab in Arabic and arvandr??d in Farsi, the main language of Persia, now modern day Iran.

The two races have been fighting over it for centuries, but in 1896, British forces invaded the adjoining south west region of Persia - Iran - and established a protectorate the British called Arabistan.

Apart from being inhabited mainly by Arabs, Arabistan or Khuzestan as the Persians called it, also happened to have 90 per cent of Persia's crude oil reserves and, while the British understood its strategic importance, the Persians had no idea.

To them it was a smelly sulphurous dump inhabited by Arabs who spoke a different language.

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Surprise ending?

Once again, the situation of the UK marines held hostage in Iran dominated the headlines of the major newspapers, this time focusing on news of their release. The papers give explanations of the diplomatic manoeuvring that led to the release, as well as some speculation of a secret deal made between the Iranians and Britain. There was also reporting on the theatrical elements of Ahmadinejad's statements. All the newspapers also carried leaders relating to the hostage situation. The Guardian and The Independent treated the ending as positive, while the Daily Telegraph referred to it as a humiliation for the UK. A commentary by Addas Edalat in The Guardian refers to the possibility of the US learning from the diplomacy involved in the hostages' release.

The REALITY is that negotiations took place and concessions were extracted from the West. The subsequent release itself was a "gift" by which the West was wrongfooted because it did not expect it to happen . . . not because it had not been told this would happen.

The Marines again

Talks have begun about the release of the UK marines held in Iran (Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Independent), but Margaret Beckett has cautioned not to be unduly optimistic (Times), especially in the wake of the freed Iranian envoy (Independent). The coverage of the hostage situation also extended to commentaries, as Jonathan Freedland of The Guardian discusses how the current conflict is very revealing of the natures of the countries involved. There is also a commentary by Mark Steel in The Independent about how the Iranians have used television in their handling of the situation. The Guardian reveals the pro-Tehran stance of much of the media in Iran, while The Times reports on the prevalence of criticism among the blogging community.