Since the days of the US hostages I have felt the West’s approach has been rather lacking in imagination when dealing with Iran. More recently there has been some divergence between the Trump administration and the EU. The US policy is a mixture of fawning over the Saudis, obeying Israel’s commands to dump the Palestinians, whilst antagonising Iran. This contrasts with a more nuanced approach from the EU. The UK is more or less rudderless at the moment but the big Iranian issue for us is the plight of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, which is a heart rending diplomatic disaster, seemingly beyond repair. Boris Johnson’s futile and inept tenure of the Foreign Office bears most of the responsibility for this poor woman’s plight. Her own suffering is mirrored by that of her husband and family.
Overall the reality is that Iran is an established regional power based upon a very old civilisation. It will never buckle to any approach which demands humiliating acceptance of terms imposed upon it. But it does want to become a more included member of the family of nations and that common interest can and should be the basis of negotiation towards pathway agreements leading to better understanding. There are enormous business opportunities awaiting Global Britain if we can get a government up and running which is capable of doing stuff beyond going round in circles over Brexit.
Meanwhile the Americans are gung ho for confrontation. It should come as no surprise as it is their style. It began with us in the eighteenth century. We lost. But now times have changed. The world is smaller, but it is full of bigger players.