Iran: ‘Aggressive Posturing By the British Will Hurt the British’ – Academic

© AP Photo / Marcos MorenoA Royal Marines vessel sails toward the Grace 1 super tanker in the British territory of Gibraltar, Thursday, July 4, 2019
A Royal Marines vessel sails toward the Grace 1 super tanker in the British territory of Gibraltar, Thursday, July 4, 2019 - Sputnik International
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Germany has warned that the UK it will “not subscribe” to the aggressive strategy adopted by Washington in the Gulf - which has been endorsed by newly appointment Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.

Raab has dismantled his predecessor’s proposals for a European-led naval task force in the region and insisted it will not be “viable” without the backing of US President Donald Trump. Mohammad Marandi, an Iranian political scientist and commentator, has explained what steps should be taken to overcome UK-Iran tensions.

Sputnik: Berlin has warned the UK that it will “not subscribe” to the aggressive strategy adopted by Washington in the Gulf - which has been endorsed by newly appointment Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. How significant is this and what does it mean for the UK and its efforts to regain control its oil tanker?

Mohammad Marandi: The escalation that we now see in the Persian Gulf region is as a result of us leaving the JCPOA, putting pressure on other countries or bullying other countries to end trade with Iran and in addition to that, the US violation of Iranian airspace, drones and other means and of course the piracy that we saw in the Mediterranean were at the behest of the United States, the British took an Iranian supertanker. Before all this the Persian Gulf region was stable, quiet and trade was taking place as usual.

The British it would seem are in a difficult position, they are gradually growing weaker, they have a three year long crisis over Brexit and the British government wants to be in the good books of Trump. It seems that the British are pushing harder than others to please the United States.

The European Union, on the other hand, despite the fact that they have been bullied by the United States and despite the fact that they are in violation of the nuclear agreement with Iran and unlike the Iranian who have been complying by the commitments, they have been violating all of their commitments but they still are trying harder to be seen as independent from the United States - to some degree.

Sputnik: Less than 10 days in the job as Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is already pushing for aggressive strategies. Is this a sign of things to come with Raab as Britain's foreign secretary and will Iran accept these extreme methods from Britain?

Mohammad Marandi: No, any new deployment in the Persian Gulf region will be seen as a hostile act by the Iranians. If the British or anyone else thinks that a military presence in the Persian Gulf will deter the Iranians, if they choose to halt a tanker or a ship, they are badly mistaken. That's the major miscalculation. If the Iranians choose to halt a tanker or another ship they will not wait for Western countries to give their permission and if there are Western warships near this ship that will not deter the Iranians. If they choose to stop at a ship, they will stop that ship.

Sputnik: To help elevate the situation between Iran and Britian, what options should Britain be undertaking?

Mohammad Marandi: Aggressive posturing by the British will hurt the British and the British are not really in a very strong position - they are in crisis. They are in crisis over Brexit, which will ultimately lead to further crises in Ireland and Scotland and they are a declining power. The smart thing for them to do would be to abide by the nuclear agreement, to implement the nuclear agreement, to stop behaving as the proxy of the United States, such as in the case where they hijack an Iranian supertanker and carried out a clear act of piracy. Under those circumstances the relationship between Iran and the EU and the UK would improve and stability in the region would be would be restored.

The views and opinions expressed by the speaker do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.

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