Co-operation in the war against
drugs
28. Iran lies on a major drugs trading route from
the production areas of Afghanistan to the consumers of Europe.
The Iranian authorities have played an honourable and important
role in seeking to stem the flow of drugs across a lengthy border
which is notoriously difficult to police. There has been good
co-operation between the United Kingdom and Iran on efforts to
improve the success rate of the Iranian border police in their
efforts to stem the flow of drugs. For example, British funds
have been used for the supply of night vision equipment and other
aids. The sharp end of the operation, however, has been undertaken
by the Iranians themselves. We understand that the Iranian border
police has suffered many casualties in its battle against the
drugs traffickers. We conclude that continued co-operation
between the United Kingdom and Iran in the war against drugs is
important for both countries and we recommend that it remain a
priority objective of the bilateral relationship.
Prospects for the future
29.The"flawed"[18]
elections of February 2004 are considered in paragraphs 61 to
66 below. They may represent a swing of the pendulum of Iranian
society back from democracy and openness and towards fundamentalism
and isolationism. If such is to be the context within which the
United Kingdom must conduct its relations with Iran over the coming
years, that relationship may be a difficult one to develop. On
the other hand, in our estimation the weight of Iran's overwhelmingly
youthful population is certain to push the pendulum once again
towards reformas EU Commissioner Chris Patten has put it,
"demography is strongly on the side of democracy in Iran".[19]
Such a movement would create circumstances in which the bilateral
relationship could improve still further.
30. We conclude that, whatever the short-term
difficulties which may afflict the United Kingdom's relations
with Iran following the recent flawed elections, the prospects
for longer-term improvements in the relationship remain good.
We recommend that the Government continue to bear firmly in mind
the benefits which good relations between Iran and the United
Kingdom can bring to both countries, and that it work towards
realising those benefits.
6 HC (2000-01) 80, pp 28-29. Dr Ansari has since moved
to Exeter University. Back
7
The full documentation may be viewed at the web site of the National
Security Archive of the George Washington University: www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv Back
8
HC (2000-01) 80, pp 1-7 Back
9
Foreign Affairs Committee, Second Report of Session 2001-02, British-US
Relations, HC 327, paras 167 & 170 Back
10
Foreign Affairs Committee, Seventh Report of Session 2001-02,
Foreign Policy Aspects of the War against Terrorism, HC
384, para 201 Back
11
See para 63 below Back
12
The papers closed in 2004 were shut down for publishing excerpts
from a letter sent by Members of the Iranian Parliament which
was critical of Supreme Leader Khamenei. See, eg, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3502995.stm Back
13
The information in this box is based on the FCO's country profile
of Iran, available on its website, www.fco.gov.uk Back
14
See http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,12858,893582,00.html Back
15
Ev 13 Back
16
"Iran welcomes UK art exhibition", http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3516087.stm Back
17
HC (2000-01) 80, p 23 Back
18
According to Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. See "EU ministers
unite to attack 'flawed' elections", The Times, 24
February 2004 Back
19
Speech to the European Parliament, 12 February 2004 Back