Ahmadinejad's gift

The Iranian President says the fifteen British sailors will be released - as a "gift" to Britain:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the group would be released promptly and handed over to the British embassy in Tehran.

He said he had pardoned the sailors as a gift to the British people and to mark the birthday of Islam's Prophet Mohammed and Easter.

In the coming days, I suspect we'll hear a lot about how "quiet diplomacy" proved effective in resolving this standoff. Maybe it did. But the Iranian government made its propaganda point - that it can paralyze the West by taking hostages - and will certainly milk this for all it's worth in the coming months.

If I were a betting man, I'd also put good money on front-page headlines in the Guardian and Independent about "how well" the sailors were treated.

Damian P.

Posted by damian at April 4, 2007 11:32 AM