Arabic Writer Comments on Iran’s Detention of British Marines
Text of report by London-based newspaper Al-Hayat website on 25 March
[Article by Abdallah Iskandar: "Iranian Messages"]
Iran’s move in detaining the 15 British soldiers in the Gulf waters sends several messages to the Iranians at home, the neighbouring countries, and the world. It does not make much difference in Tehran’s calculations whether these British soldiers were detained in Iranian or Iraqi territorial waters. A war is raging between the two sides in Basra and in the UN Security Council. They have exchanged accusations of supporting terrorism in Iraq or in Iran. All attacks become “legitimate” in this war.
The form of detention, after the establishment of the Islamic Republic, is a basic means in Iranian diplomacy. In fact, it was the first and most important means used by Tehran in occupying the American Embassy and detaining its staff. It was the means through which Iran had entered the Lebanese arena in the eighties of the last century. Anyway, this diplomacy is based on a simple idea, which is that a detained Westerner would force his country to negotiate to safeguard the life of the hostage. At the same time, it says to the zealot Iranian demonstrators that Western spies are carrying out sabotage in Iran. Every anti-regime voice then becomes connected with these spies. Through the detention diplomacy, Khomeyni was able to liquidate his internal opponents before rallying the Iranian nation behind him to face the war with Iraq.
The message to the Iranian people at home is the same: the West is attacking Iran and plotting against it. The proof is the British entry into Iranian territorial waters after the West had tried to stir up ethnic, sectarian, and regional conflicts, as Khamene’i said a few days ago. However, the Revolutionary Guard, which has shown greater strength through its manoeuvres in the Gulf, is watching these spies. It is able to put an end to their plots and resist any possible attack that the Western forces in the area can launch.
It is a response and reassurance message to the Iranians at home – response to those who raised a voice recently warning that a hardline Iranian policy would lead the country to an uncalculated confrontation with the West and reassurance to the Iranians that the confrontation is calculated and Iran would prevail in it.
In its message to the neighbouring countries, Tehran is saying, on the one hand, that the British and American forces in Iraq now constitute a threat to it by exceeding their role in this country, which it opposes and is demanding an end to it. On the other hand, it is saying that the security of the Gulf has become a part of its regional security, because it is facing a threat while the other states are allied with the West, and that it has a right to maintain security in the Gulf, irrespective of the positions of the neighbouring countries. This justifies its series of naval, missile, and ground manoeuvres, which are not meant as a deterrent against a direct attack against it in as much as to show its ability to inflict losses in the neighbouring and medium-long environment.
Iran has recently launched a public relations campaign in the region by showing its readiness for settlements. It seemed that the campaign aimed at reassuring the neighbouring countries about its nuclear programme and its peaceful intentions to win support in its battle in the Security Council. At the same time, however, it aimed at establishing its right to intervene in Arab affairs. Now, Iran is trying to link this “right” with its battle with the West with everything that could follow in terms of tension and threats, because the most effective Iranian intervention is the one directed towards the internal situation.
Parallel to the intensification of the UN sanctions against Tehran for its refusal to negotiate about its nuclear programme, the Iranian threat to respond to the West moves to a higher level, particularly as some of these sanctions come under the binding Seventh Chapter. This response is directed at the easier spot: the Western interests in the Gulf.
Other messages, which could be added to these messages, pertain to the war of spies between Iran and the West. The first of these is perhaps the response to the abduction of an Iranian security officer, General Asghari, or his taking refuge in the West. With the reports about Britain’s basic role in the “major Western victory,” it is likely that the 15 British soldiers, particularly after they were moved to Tehran, would become the subject of negotiations to repatriate Asghari.
(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Middle East. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.