Iran, the UN and the UK - Bush poodle?

1.09.16pm GMT Tue 26th Dec 2006

George W. Bush and Tony Blair

Over Christmas the UN Security Council passed a motion supporting sanctions against Iran. Would this be Iran that days early Blair was praising as moderate and suggesting that we should talk to about how to sort out the mess in Iraq? Would this be Iran that recently held another set of democratic elections for Local Government and the Experts' Assembly? Would this be Iran that despite not signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is being attacked for supposedly developing Nuclear Weapons (not breaking the treaty as they didn't sign) whilst the UK which did sign is planning to purchase more new nuclear weapons (Trident)?

So why the sudden change of mind on behalf of the UK Government's actions? Could it be Blair got a phone call from Bush telling him that we are actually against Iran now?

I don't believe Iran should be developing nuclear weapons or indeed nuclear technology to provide electricity and heat because I am against any country doing that. We must accept, however, that if we in the UK can then everyone else can too. It is not hypocritical for the UK to say yes we want this technology and these weapons but you can't?

There is a way to dealing with Iran and that is working with them and also at the same time look to see how we can strengthen democracy in Iran and for that matter across the Middle East - which may include accepting people we may not like may sometimes win elections. Only last week President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his supporters failed to win control of key councils in elections and his most powerful opponent Hashemi Rafsanjani received the most votes in elections to the Experts' Assembly, a clerical body empowered to appoint and remove Iran's supreme leader. Ayatollah Muhammad-Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi, the president's presumed spiritual mentor, came sixth.