Isabel Hilton (London Guardian): Britain must hold the line over Iran

[Jack Rabbit]

From the Guardian of London
Dated Thursday July 17

Britain must hold the line over Iran
US hawks are now recklessly talking up the 'threat' from Tehran
By Isabel Hilton

If Tony Blair's conversation with Ariel Sharon is a reliable guide, he appears to be shifting his position on Iran from one of constructive engagement to one of more overt concern about Iran's nuclear programme. Are we seeing a re-run of the long approach to war, or just an increase in already established diplomatic pressure?
The problem with crying wolf, of course, is that when the hot breath is really on your neck, scepticism results. In fact, there are many reasons why governments are concerned about Iran: there are serious and longstanding suspicions about Iran's nuclear programme, though nobody has yet tried to argue that Tehran is close to developing weapons. Iran has offered only limited cooperation with inspections and has not yet signed the protocol that would allow a more rigorous inspection regime. In this argument, it is intent that counts.
Iran also continues to support groups such as Hamas that Sharon would like to see disappear from the map before he signs any Middle East peace agreement and, the US alleges, it still harbours al-Qaida suspects. And, as the home of the Shia revolution, Iran carries weight among the world's millions of Shia - notably, of course, in Iraq. If the occupying power in Iraq was ever to permit elections, it would have to accept the risk of an Islamic government more friendly to Tehran than to Washington and, in the short term, it has to deal with sections of Iraqi influence that are guarding the Iranian interest in the politics of Iraq.
All or any of the above might trigger a rise in the rhetorical temperature. But as with Iraq, the fundamental question is whether the US is already set on military action.

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