Downgrading Iranian-British Relations: The Anatomy of a Folly
Author
Summary, in English
Yet, as indicated, the most significant corollary of the diplomatic crisis in Iranian-British ties concerns the cataclysmic impact it can exert upon the likelihood of military confrontation with Iran. It is a gross miscalculation on the part of Iranian politicians and policy-makers to suppose that occupation of the UK embassy or reduction of relations with the country will “teach it a good lesson,” “awaken it to its mistakes,” or prompt it to “revise its hostile approach” to Iran. On the contrary, with Washington and Tel Aviv hell-bent on halting Tehran’s nuclear programme, Britain will undoubtedly press ahead more adamantly with its opposition to the Islamic Republic, now that it has much less motivation to restrain itself. One needs to understand that in the absence of effective communication, adversaries often gravitate towards developing worst-case perceptions about each other’s intentions, which in the case of Iran means all sides involved are drawing, willy-nilly, closer to military conflict and all-out war. The whole game is a systematic folly for which the entire Iranian nation will pay the price and of which it is the ultimate victim.
Publishing year
2012-01-23
Language
English
Publication/Series
e-International Relations (e-IR)
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Document type
Journal article
Topic
- Political Science
Keywords
- Iran
- Britain
- relations
- downgrading
- 2011
Status
Published
Research group
- Internationell politik
- Freds- och konfliktforskning