Familiar?

Ali Larijani, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, accused Britain of escalating the crisis by referring the matter to the United Nations security council. Really? Now as far as I can remember, when people seized the soldiers of other nations and held them as political hostages and propaganda material this used to result in war. Or at least some war-like acts. Going to the UN (while an utterly cowardly and feckless thing to do) does not seem like a rash and wanton attempt to escalate the crisis. In fact, by referring th matter to the UN, Britain has basically guaranteed that nothing would be done (mostly courtesy of those wonderful peace-loveing, human rights worshiping nations, Russia and China).

But government-sponsored students roam Tehran with useful signs such as the one above. Not content to have prisoners paraded (in violation of the Geneva convention -- if that is indeed applicable) making "confessions" and "writing letters of apology", students held mock trials of the 15. Mock trials? What? In a country where you can be arrested at the whim of the religious police to face a modern star chamber?

The propaganda fiesta using the 15 hostages as a media tool ... reminds me of Gary Francis Powers, the Vietcong, Mugabe, and a host of other terrorist displays (think of all those lovely videos provided to Al-Jazeera of beheadings, and the pioneers of the Islamic art of hostage taking, the PLO and PFLP etc.).

The Iranian government places themselves in good and appropriate company and is being consistent with their own history ... 444 days presided over by Jimmy Carter. Note that they were released minutes before Ronald Reagan was sworn in? Did you ever wonder what Reagan had intended for Tehran if they had continued to hold the Americans ...? I am sure that the Iranians had a pretty good idea.

And yet, in spite of such behavior, we cannot see our way clear to preventing these people from acquiring nuclear weapons. Putin is clearly an idiot if he does not see the risk posed to Russia as well, and the sizable Chinese Muslim population is probably looking forwards to their own theocracy.