Select Committee on Foreign Affairs Sixth Report


6  Looking Ahead

62. The diplomatic crisis sparked by this incident is likely to have some implications on the future relationship between the UK and Iran. Lord Triesman told us some of the outline of Sir Nigel Sheinwald's crucial discussion with Dr Ali Larijani. He said that they had talked about the "possibilities for future substantive discussion that would benefit both sides by making a better relationship."[99] During our private hearing, he made a related point:

    One way or another, Larijani, Sheinwald, us, the ambassador here and Foreign Secretary Mottaki now have some channels that are more active and more likely to be the conduits for serious business than we have had for some time.[100]

63. Lord Triesman also took the opportunity to discuss Iranian security fears in the Shatt al-Arab waterway. He said "we needed better security arrangements in the region", and that "it was hard […] not to understand the degree of sensitivity that they were expressing about what they saw as their security problems." He suggested that proper mechanisms could help to avoid such incidents in the future.[101]

64. The Government has announced that it will be undergoing a review into its relationship with Iran following the incident.[102] Sir Richard Dalton warned of why such a diplomatic response may be difficult:

    We do not have that many bilateral levers to use against Iran. There should be some attempt to find an area of our co-operation with Iran which is valuable to Iran and which we can withdraw for a period in order to underline our rejection of what they did and how they did it.[103]

However, he argued that "it is possible in such circumstances to find something to retaliate with which is actually cutting off your nose to spite your face."[104]

65. We conclude that Iran deserves strong censure for its illegal and provocative seizure of a group of lightly armed British personnel who posed no threat to its interests or security. We further conclude that it is a matter of urgency that systems are established to ensure that a repeat situation cannot occur. We recommend that, in its response to this Report, the Government set out what steps have been taken in this regard.


99   Q 99 Back

100   Q 132 Back

101   Q 132 Back

102   "Diplomacy is not weak: it works", Daily Telegraph, 14 April 2007 Back

103   Q 37 Back

104   Q 38 Back


 
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Prepared 22 July 2007